Exbalidoscious

Glossary of Funeral Terms

Below is a list of terms that you may encounter when planning or arranging a funeral.

People you may encounter

Apprentice: someone learning the funeral business under the supervision of a licensed director
Coroner: public official and sometimes a constitutional officer with the duty of investigating the cause of death if it appears to be other than natural causes or if no physician was in attendance for a time period prior to death
Embalmer: person who disinfects and preserves human remains, prepares bodies for transport and restores features for open casket viewings
Funeral Director/ Mortician: certified and trained professional who prepares, arranges and supervises human remains for burial or cremation and maintains a funeral home and counsels and assists survivors
Honorary Pallbearers: friends or members of a social, fraternal or religious organization who act as escorts or honor guards for the deceased and do not actually carry the casket
Medical Examiner: government official who is usually appointed and has a thorough medical knowledge whose function is to perform autopsies on bodies dead from crime, violence, suicide, etc., and investigate circumstances of death
Mourner: someone present at the funeral out of respect or affection for the deceased
Pallbearers: relatives or friends responsible for carrying the casket during a funeral service; they can be hired as well
Survivors: people outliving deceased, particularly family members
Trade Embalmer: licensed embalmer not employed by a specific funeral home, but provides services to multiple homes

Cremation Terms

Apportionment: when cremated remains are divided for separate disposition (like putting some in an urn and spreading some at a favorite location)
Cremains or Cremated Remains: what remains of a body after cremation- also called ashes
Cremation: reduction to ashes of a body by fire
Crematory: building housing a furnace designed for cremating human remains
Inurnment: placing of cremated remains into an urn
Niche: hollowed out space in a wall made to place urns containing cremated remains
Niche Garden: outdoor garden containing structures with niches
Urn: container made of stone, wood or metal to hold cremated remains
Urn Garden: garden that contains urn burial sites
Urn Placement: permanent placement of an urn into a burial site or niche

Funeral Service Terms

Aspirate: process that removes gases and fluids from the abdominal cavity
Committal Service: final section of the funeral service in which the deceased are entombed or interred
Cortege: funeral procession
Cosmetology: utilization of cosmetics to help restore a life-like appearance to the deceased
Embalm: preserving a dead body by circulating preservative and antiseptic through the arteries and veins
Embalming Fluid: liquid chemicals that are used to preserve human remains
Embalming Table: operating table made of metal with a porcelain surface where remains are laced for embalming
Eulogy: public speaking at a funeral that honors the deceased
Final Disposition: the last process for the remains
Final Rites: the funeral service
First Call: first visit by the funeral director to the place of death to remove the deceased and obtain pertinent information
Funeral Arrangements: conference with the funeral director and family to complete service and financial details of a funeral
Funeral Procession: procession of motor vehicles between the church and cemetery
Funeral Service: religious or other rites performed before final disposition of a deceased body
In State: custom that presents deceased for viewing by friends and relatives either before or after the funeral service
Memorial Service: religious ceremony that is conducted in memory of the deceased without the remains present
Mortuary Science: part of funeral service profession that deals with proper preparation of human remains for final disposition
Obituary: notice of death that contains biographical details of the deceased; usually a newspaper notice
Purge: discharge from the mouth, ears and nose of deceased caused by improper embalming
Remains: body of deceased
Restorative Art: derma surgery that is used to restore distorted and mutilated features on the deceased using plaster, wax, creams, etc.
Spiritual Banquet: Roman Catholic practice that involves specific prayers like Masses and Rosaries
Viewing: when the deceased is available to be visited and seen by friends and relatives before or after the funeral service
Vigil: Roman Catholic religious service held on eve of funeral services
Visitation: private opportunity typically in a special room in the funeral home that allows survivors and friends to view the deceased before the service
Visitation Room: room in the funeral home where the body lies before the funeral service for people to view the deceased
Wake: watch kept over deceased that can last the entire night preceding the funeral

Funeral Home Terms

Arrangement Conference: meeting with the funeral director at the funeral home to make funeral arrangements
Arrangement Room: room at the funeral home where the family of the deceased makes funeral arrangements
Chapel: large room in the funeral home used to hold funeral services
Church Truck: collapsible catafalque used for funerals
Display Room: room in the funeral home that is set aside to display urns, caskets, burial garments and vaults that are available to purchase
Family Room: room in the funeral home that provides the family with privacy at the time of the funeral service
Funeral Home: building used for arranging and conducting funerals and embalming
Minister's Room: room in the funeral home designated for the clergyman to robe or make last minute preparations for the service before the service
Morgue: place where human remains are kept pending identification or autopsy
Preparation Room: room in the funeral home equipped and designed to prepare the deceased for final disposition
Preparation Table: operating table in the preparation room on which the body is placed for embalming and dressing
Reposing Room: room in the funeral home where body lies in state when casketed until time of service
Slumber Room: room equipped with a bed where the deceased is placed, appropriately dressed and lies in state until casketed on the day of the funeral
Visitation Room: room in the funeral home where the body lies before the funeral service for people to view the deceased

Funeral Product Terms

Background Drapes: decorative drapes made of velour that are arranged on a frame to be placed as background behind the casket
Burial Garments: apparel made for the deceased
Canopy: portable canvas shelter or tent used to cover the gravesite during burial or committal service
Casket (Coffin, Burial Case): container made of metal, wood, fiberglass or plastic designed for placing human remains for burial
Casket Veil: silk transparent net that covers the casket to keep insects off the remains
Catafalque: stand on which the casket rests during the funeral service and during the viewing
Coffin: wedge shaped burial cases that is most often eight sided
Door Badge: floral spray that is placed on the door of a residence to announce a death
Family Car: limousine used for the immediate family in a funeral procession
Flower Car: vehicle that transports flowers from the funeral home to the church and cemetery
Flower Stands and Racks: metal or wooden racks and stands of different heights used for banking flowers around the casket
Funeral Spray: collective bouquets of cut flowers sent to the funeral home or residence of the deceased as a tribute to them
Hearse/Casket Coach: motor coach designed and used to convey casketed remains from the funeral service location to the cemetery
Lead Car: car that leads the funeral procession
Register: book made available by the funeral director to record the names of people visiting the funeral home to pay their respects to the deceased as well as entering data on deceased (name, dates of birth and death), name of officiant, place of interment, list of floral tributes, time and date of service, etc.
Service Car: utility vehicle belonging to funeral home or cemetery and is used to transport chairs, flower

Legal Terms

Attorney in Fact: a person who is granted the power of attorney
Beneficiary: recipient of the proceeds of an insurance policy or will
Bequest: gift of property made in a will
Burial Certificate/ Permit: local government issued legal paper that authorizes burial or cremation
Burial Insurance: insurance policy that pays out in funeral services and merchandise instead of cash
Certified Death Certificate: legal copy of the original death certificate that is issued by local authorities at the family's request used to substantiate claims for insurance and other death benefits
Codicil: amendment to the will that changes the original provisions
Contest: legal challenge or question to the validity of a will
Cremation Permit: local government issued certificate that authorizes cremation of the deceased
Death Certificate: legal document signed by attending physician or coroner certifying cause of death and other vital statistics pertaining to the deceased
Death Notice: paragraph in the classified section of the newspaper that informs people of a person's death and gives them details the survivors want published along with funeral service information
Deceased: person in whom all physical life has ceased
Executor: administrator of an estate
Funeral Insurance/Burial Insurance: an insurance policy that covers costs related to the funeral or provides money for a funeral upon death of the insured
Inquest: official examination or inquiry before a jury to determine cause of death
Intestate: having no legal will left behind
License: authorization from the state that grants permission to perform duties that would otherwise be illegal
Life Insurance Trust: trust fund from money provided by life insurance
Living Trust: trust that has been established during the life of the trustee
Living Will: legal document detailing the wishes of an individual concerning his/her medical care, particularly in respect to resuscitation and life sustaining technology
Perpetual Care Trust Fund: portion of burial plot cost set aside in trust for ongoing care
Prearranged Funeral: funeral arranged and paid for by an individual prior to their death
Prearranged Funeral Trust or Funeral Trust: method that allows individuals to pre-pay for funeral expenses by holding money in trust until it is needed to pay for funeral costs
Pre-Planning or Pre-need: arranging of all aspects of a funeral, particularly the financing before death
Probate: court process that proves the validity of a will
Right of Survivorship: occurs when joint property owner proves for passing of all property into the hands of surviving joint owner
Testator: person making valid will
Transit Permit: legal paper issued by local government that allows a body to be transported to burial place (additional permits may be required for cremation)
Trust: monetary fund held and managed by one person to benefit an individual or others
Viatical: purchase of a life-insurance policy from a terminally ill person
Will: legal document stating intentions of deceased on the care of their remains and dispersal of their belongings along with other relevant issues

Burial Terms

Burial: putting a dead body in an underground chamber of earth
Cemetery: area of ground that is set aside for entombment or burial of the deceased
Cenotaph: empty tomb or erected monument in memory or a person buried somewhere else
Columbarium: building or structure containing vaults lined with recesses or niches to house urns holding cremated remains
Crypt: room or vault used for keeping remains
Disinter: to dig up or remove remains from a burial place
Exhume: digging up human remains
Grave: Excavation into the earth in which the deceased is buried
Grave Liner: receptacle the casket is placed into made of metal, concrete or wood to provide an extra precaution to protect the remains from the elements
Grave or Memorial Marker: usually made of stone or metal and is a method to identify occupants of particular graves and provides information such as name of individual, place and date of birth and death
Green Burial or Direct Burial: burial of a body without chemical preservation in a simple container to preserve the earth
Interment: act of burying a body in a grave
Lowering Device: mechanism placed over the open grave with two or more straps to secure the casket and then used to lower the casket into the grave by unwinding the straps from a cylinder to lower casket into place
Mausoleum: private or public building containing above ground crypts or tombs
Opening and Closing Fees: fees the cemetery charges for digging and refilling a grave
Plot: area of ground in a cemetery that is owned by a family or individual and usually contains multiple graves
Tomb: chamber excavated from rock or earth to receive human remains
Will: legal document stating intentions of deceased on the care of their remains and dispersal of their belongings along with other relevant issues