sarcophagus

== English == === Etymology === The noun is borrowed from Latin sarcophagus (“grave; sarcophagus; flesh-eating, carnivorous”), from Ancient Greek σᾰρκοφᾰ́γος (sărkophắgos, “sarcophagus; flesh-eating, carnivorous”) (so named from λῐ́θος σᾰρκοφᾰ́γος (lĭ́thos sărkophắgos, literally “flesh-eating stone”) a type of limestone found at Assos in Troas (now Behramkale, Turkey) thought to consume the flesh of corpses, and thus used to make coffins), from σαρκός (sarkós) (the genitive form of σάρξ (sárx, “flesh; body”), from Proto-Indo-European *twerḱ- (“to carve; to cut off, trim”)) + -φάγος (-phágos, suffix meaning ‘eater (of); eating’) (from ἔφαγον (éphagon, “to devour, eat”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂g- (“to allot, distribute; to divide”)). The plural form sarcophagi is borrowed from Latin sarcophagī. The verb is derived from the noun. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /sɑːˈkɒfəɡəs/ (General American) IPA(key): /sɑɹˈkɑfəɡəs/ Hyphenation: sar‧co‧phag‧us === Noun === sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses or (rare) sarcophagusses) A stonen coffin, often with its exterior inscribed, or decorated with sculpture. Synonym: (obsolete) sarcophage (by extension) (informal) The cement and steel structure that encases the destroyed nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine. (historical) A type of wine cooler (“a piece of equipment used to keep wine chilled”) shaped like a sarcophagus (sense 1). (obsolete except Ancient Greece, historical) A kind of limestone used by the Ancient Greeks for coffins, so called because it was thought to consume the flesh of corpses. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== autosarcophagy sarcophagan sarcophage (obsolete) sarcophagous sarcophagy (rare) ==== Translations ==== === Verb === sarcophagus (third-person singular simple present sarcophaguses, present participle sarcophagusing, simple past and past participle sarcophagused) (transitive) To enclose (a corpse, etc.) in a sarcophagus (noun sense 1). Synonyms: sarcophagise, sarcophagize ==== Translations ==== === Notes === === References === === Further reading === sarcophagus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “sarcophagus”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. “sarcophagus”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. == Latin == === Etymology === From Ancient Greek σαρκοφάγος (sarkophágos, “coffin of limestone”), σαρκοφάγος (sarkophágos, “flesh-eating, carnivorous”). === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [sarˈkɔ.pʰa.ɡʊs] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [sarˈkɔː.fa.ɡus] === Noun === sarcophagus m (genitive sarcophagī); second declension a grave, sepulchre ==== Declension ==== Second-declension noun. ==== Descendants ==== === Adjective === sarcophagus (feminine sarcophaga, neuter sarcophagum); first/second-declension adjective flesh-devouring, carnivorous a kind of limestone used for coffins ==== Declension ==== First/second-declension adjective. === References === “sarcophagus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “sarcophagus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers "sarcophagus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887) “sarcophagus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.