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THANATOPHOBIA

a phobia, specifically the fear of death or dying

THANTOPHOBIA

a phobia, specifically the fear of death or dying

TOMB

A repository for the remains of the dead, and refers to any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, regardless of size, for interment or burial. Types include: burial vaults, crypts, mausloea, pyramids, chamber tombs, sarcophagi, sepulchers, catacombs, shrines, and interior church crypts

TUMULUS

the swollen ground or mound which mark gravesites

VAULT

any structure of stone or masonry forming a ceiling or roof over an underground burial chamber (or burial spaces located in the walls; A vault is also the outside container into which the casket is placed. Burial vaults are designed to protect the casket, and may be made of a variety or combination of materials including concrete, stainless steel, galvanized steel, copper, bronze, plastic or fiberglass.

VIEWING

The embalmed body of the deceased person is placed on display for the decedent's closest friends and relatives to pay respects to the family and provide support during this emotional time. Most viewings occur at a funeral home, although in the past, the deceased was on display in the family's home until burial.

VISITATION

The embalmed body of the deceased person is placed on display for the decedent's closest friends and relatives to pay respects to the family and provide support during this emotional time. Most visitations occur at a funeral home, although in the past, the deceased was on display in the family's home until burial.

VIVISEPULCHER

The act of burying someone alive

WAKE

The Irish practice of watching over the body by candlelight the night before the funeral and the often wild feasting which follows. This may have developed simply because mistakes sometimes happened  The purpose of the wake, therefore, was to ensure that the deceased was truly dead.

WILL

A legal document also known as a Last Will and Testament, used by a person to regulate the rights of others over his or her assets after death. It also used to specify the person's last wishes for funeral and disposition of his or her remains. Also used to describe the action of body donation, when a person makes the decision to will his or her body to science. 

WINGED EFFIGY

a representation of a person flanked by a pair of wings usually associated with figures of a deceased person depicted in stone (as in the carved likenesses in the tympanum on a Colonial-era Puritan gravestone in the Northestern states)

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RD Glossary by Run Digital