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Webster 1913 Edition


Obsequies

Ob′se-quies

,
Noun.
pl.
See
Obsequy
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Obsequies

OB'SEQUIES

,
Noun.
plu.
[L. obsequium, complaisance, from obsequor, to follow.]
Funeral rites and solemnities; the last duties performed to a deceased person.
[Milton uses the word in the singular, but the common usage is different.]

Definition 2024


obsequies

obsequies

See also: obsequiés

English

Noun

obsequies pl (plural only)

  1. (plural only) Funeral rites.
  2. plural of obsequy.
  3. plural of obsequie.

Usage notes

  • the plural only usage is favored by the Oxford Dictionary[1], and thus can be considered to be British, whereas Webster's dictionary, with prevalence of the usage in the plural being noted, gives both singular and plural forms of the word[2][3].
  • in modern usage, not to be confused with obsequious

Translations

References

  1. obsequies ('obsequy' not listed). Oxford Dictionaries Online, Oxford University Press
  2. obsequy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  3. obsequy. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
  • The Pocket Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus. American Edition. Oxford University Press, 1997
  • Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language. Random House, 1996.

Spanish

Verb

obsequies

  1. Informal second-person singular () negative imperative form of obsequiar.
  2. Informal second-person singular () present subjunctive form of obsequiar.