Dictionary

obsequy en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈɒbsəkwiː/ (UK, US)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English obseque, from Old French obseque, osseque, from Latin obsequiī (“complaisant, yielding”), alteration of obsequia (“compliance”) (by confusion, in association with exsequia (“funeral rites”), from exsequī (“follow or accompany to the grave”)).

Meanings

1. The last office for the dead.
2. (in-plural) A funeral rite or service.
   • And to the ladyes he reſtored agayn / The bodyes of her huſbandes yͭ were ſlayn / To done obſequies as tho was the gyſe. 1478, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales:
   • But, to-day, there were no obsequies to observe at all. 1919, Ronald Firbank, Valmouth, Duckworth, hardback edition, page 13
   • It was a rather ghastly ceremony, but it was the only means in our power of showing our respect to the faithful dead and of celebrating his obsequies. 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

Forms

Deriveds

obsequial · obsequence