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OBELISK

a tall, thin, four-sided, tapering grave monument which ends in a pyramidal top

OBITUARY

published biographies recounting the lives of those who have recently died

OBSEQUIES

funeral rites

OUTER BURIAL CONTAINER

outside container into which the casket is placed, which is 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.

PALL

The transportation of the deceased by a coffin or casket, also used to describe the cloth used to drape the casket or coffin.

PALLBEARER

an individual appointed to carry a coffin or casket during transportation of the body, traditionally considered an honor, six people are to be asked by the family to provide this final caring act for the deceased

PHASMOPHOBIA

the fear of ghosts

PHILATORY

a transparent reliquary to contain and exhibit the bones and relics of saints.

PLACOPHOBIA

a phobia, specifically the fear of tombstones

PNEUMATIPHOBIA

a phobia, specifically the fear of spirits

POLYANDRIUM

originally a cemetery for the victims of great battles

PROTECTIVE CASKET

A marketing angle used by the funeral industry to sell a higher profit casket model by advertisting its ability to "seal" and protect the remains inside. The model features an inexpensive gasket that will render the box to be airtight., and create the illusion of a preserved body. In reality, the body will deteriorate at faster rate due to the decomposition by anaerobic bacteria, which causes putrefied liquification of the body.

PYRE

a ceremonial construction made of wood and fire, designed to reduce a corpse to ashes as part of the burial ritual, used traditionally in the Hindu religion

RELIQUARY

(also referred to as a shrine, chasse or monstrance) is a container for holy relics. These may be the physical remains of saints, such as bones or shreds of clothing, or some object associated with the saints or other holy figures

SARCOPHAGI

plural of sarcophagus, a stone container for a coffin or body, which were carved, decorated or built ornately to be freestanding above ground, as a part of an elaborate tomb or tombs, for burial, or were placed in crypts. 

SARCOPHAGUS

a stone container for a coffin or body, which were carved, decorated or built ornately to be freestanding above ground, as a part of an elaborate tomb or tombs, for burial, or were placed in crypts; derived from Greek words and means "eater of flesh", since early types were carved from a special kind of rock that consumed the flesh of the corpse inside

SEALING CASKET

A marketing angle used by the funeral industry to sell a higher profit casket model by advertisting its ability to "seal" and protect the remains inside. The model features an inexpensive gasket that will render the box to be airtight., and create the illusion of a preserved body. In reality, the body will deteriorate at faster rate due to the decomposition by anaerobic bacteria, which causes putrefied liquification of the body. The sealing feature does not allow this putrefied tissue to compose and escape from the burial box.

SEPULCHER

a type of tomb or burial chamber, sometimes carved into the rock on a hillside

SEPULCHRE

a type of tomb or burial chamber, sometimes carved into the rock on a hillside

SEPULTURE

the act of burying a dead person

SYMBOLOPHOBIA

a phobia, the fear of symbolism

TAPHEPHOBIA

a phobia, specifically the fear of cemeteries, or the fear of being buried alive

TAPHONOMY

 the study of a decaying organism over time

TAPHOPHILE

one who loves cemeteries and funerals, generally originating as a genealogy researcher, becoming interested in history, iconography and preservation of cemeteries and their monument stones

TAPHOPHOBIA

a phobia, specifically the fear of cemeteries, or the fear of being buried alive

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RD Glossary by Run Digital