catafalque

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥-th₂der.? Proto-Hellenic *kətá Ancient Greek κᾰτᾰ́ (kătắ) Etruscan 𐌚𐌀𐌋𐌀 (fala)bor. Latin fala Vulgar Latin [Term?]? Italian catafalcobor. French catafalquebor. English catafalque Borrowed from French catafalque, from Italian catafalco, from Vulgar Latin *catafalicum, from Ancient Greek κατά (katá, “down”) + Latin fala (“scaffolding, wooden siege tower”), which is from Etruscan. Also influenced scaffold.

1. A platform used to display or convey a coffin during a funeral, often ornate.

   “Until noon, the hour of the funeral, crowds continued to file by the plain pine coffin on its plain flower-covered catafalque.”

   “After another brief funeral rite at Tzu Hu, the presidential casket was laid on the catafalque in the central hall of a temporary “mausoleum” and sealed with marble slabs. There, the body of President Chiang will rest pending permanent burial in the mainland after its recovery.”