sarcophagus
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
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.
Inflected forms:
form: sarcophagi
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: sarcophaguses
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: sarcophagusses
pos: noun
tags: plural
rare
form: sarcophaguses
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: sarcophagusing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: sarcophagused
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: sarcophagused
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A stonen coffin, often with its exterior inscribed, or decorated with sculpture.
pos: noun
examples: [T]his (venter impiorum inſaturabilis [the insatiable belly of the wicked]) in foure & tvventie houres conſumes many carkaſſes of Fiſhes and Fovvles, and generally tvvice a day all the fleſh therein interred; ſo true a Sarcophagus is the belly: […]
One meets vvith many other Figures of Meleager in the ancient Baſſo Relievo's, and on the Sides of the Sarcophagi, or Funeral Monuments.
This monument (made to ſtand upon the ground, but novv raiſed much above the eye on a heavy baſe projecting from the vvall) is a ſarcophagus vvith ribbed vvork and mouldings, ſomevvhat antique, placed on a baſement ſupporting pretty large Corinthian columns of alabaſter, vvhich uphold an entablature, and form a ſort of canopy over it.
The interior of the Taje exceeds the promise given by its external magnificence: on a platform in the centre of a circular hall, are the sarcophaguses of Shah Jehan, and his beloved empress [Mumtaz Mahal], enclosed within a carved screen of the most elaborate tracery and exquisite finish. These sarcophaguses, and the surrounding walls and screens, are covered with flowers and inscriptions of the most delicate mosaic work, in every variety of cornelian, agate, jasper, lapis lazuli, and other precious marbles.
On the lids of those Tombs; square sarcophaguses, in that silent dim-burning Hall, each with its Soul in torment; the lids open there; they are to be shut at the Day of Judgment, through Eternity.
On closer inspection the coffins seemed to be more like sarcophagi. They stood about waist high and were constructed of what appeared to be white marble, […]
The swinging lantern reveals a burial chamber; below him lies a sarcophagus, and it appears to be undisturbed. […] He examines the sarcophagus by the light of the lantern. It is a sumptuous piece of work, decorated with reliefs that show scenes from the life of Achilles. […] Trembling with excitement, Fabrizio [Lazzaro] orders his assistants to lift the heavy sarcophagus lid. The chamber itself seems to be holding its breath. What he finds surpasses his expectations. Inside the sarcophagus lies one of the greatest treasures of the ancient world; Fabrizio has hit the jackpot; he has found the vase.
gloss: The cement and steel structure that encases the destroyed nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
informal
examples: 'They move stuff out of the sarcophagus?' / 'I know, crazy people, they're killing themselves from radiation.' […] '[S]o the materials, plutonium, catalysis, are assembled at a site near the sarcophagus?' […] '[W]hat we know is this, they collect the plutonium, etc, from Chernobyl, what they don't have yet – is the know-how. To put the bomb together.'
gloss: A type of wine cooler (“a piece of equipment used to keep wine chilled”) shaped like a sarcophagus (sense 1).
pos: noun
tags: broadly
historical
examples: There is an open sarcophagus-shaped wine-cooler beneath, standing on a plinth. The inside of the wine-cooler may either be lined with lead, or it may contain a block-tin case, with handles, to lift out. Ice is frequently put into these wine-coolers, in order to surround the decanters or bottles set in them, when the wine is to be cooled. Castors are sunk into the plinth of the sarcophagus, that it may be drawn out from beneath the sideboard, and pushed in again at pleasure. […] A sarcophagus with a hinged lid below, fixed on a hollow plinth with castors, is partitioned and lined with lead, so that ice can be put round each separate bottle.
A George VI mahogany sarcophagus wine cooler, with nulled mouldings and brass ring handles, the turned stem on leaf carved and moulded legs and brass castors.
gloss: A kind of limestone used by the Ancient Greeks for coffins, so called because it was thought to consume the flesh of corpses.
pos: noun
tags: historical
examples: Near unto Aſſos, a citie in Troas, there is found in the quarries a certaine ſtone called Sarcophagus, vvhich runneth in a direct veine, and is apt to be cloven and ſo cut out of the rocke by flakes: The reaſon of the name is this, becauſe that vvithin the ſpace of fortie daies it is knovvne for certain to conſume the bodies of the dead vvhich are beſtovved therein, skin, fleſh, and bone, all ſave the teeth.
His Entrails are like the Sarcophagus, that devours dead Bodies in a ſmall Space, […]
gloss: To enclose (a corpse, etc.) in a sarcophagus (noun sense 1).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: All waiting: the new-coffined dead, / The handful of mere dust that lies / Sarcophagused in stone and lead / Under the weight of centuries: / Knight, cardinal, bishop, abbess mild, / With last week's buried year-old child.
Was it the Mummy of King Cheops—still sarcophagused in the labyrinthine recesses of the star-y-pointing Pyramid, to mock generations of Egyptologists, past, present, and to come—that had all at once found a tongue within his desiccated jaws?
Even the sight of a very great king indeed, sarcophagused under electric light in a hall full of most fortifying pictures, does not hold him [a visitor to the Valley of the Kings, Egypt] too long.
Related words: autosarcophagy
sarcophagan
sarcophage
sarcophagous
sarcophagy
Derived words: sarcophagal
sarcophagise
sarcophagize
sarcophaguslike
Translations: