epitaphion

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐπῐτᾰ́φῐον (epĭtắphĭon).

epitaphion means An embroidered veil showing the dead body of Jesus Christ. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 100 out of 100.

Why this word is great

EPITAPHION — [Noun] A liturgical veil of embroidered silk or velvet, bearing the icon of the dead Christ, ceremonially venerated in Orthodox Good Friday rites. From Ancient Greek ἐπιτάφιον (epitáphion), from ἐπί (epí, "upon") + τάφος (táphos, "tomb"). Unlike an "epitaph," a static, textual memorial in stone, or a "shroud," a plain, functional wrapping for decay, the epitaphion is a portable, glorified tomb—a paradox of ornate sorrow. It is the heavy, gold-threaded pall borne in solemn procession; the stark, embroidered body against a field of dark velvet; the woven wounds touched by bowed foreheads in the incense-thick dark. It transforms absolute loss into a fabric grave, a tomb that walks to make sacred absence palpable.

noun

An embroidered veil showing the dead body of Jesus Christ.“Visitors kept dropping by, following the custom of seeing as many epitaphoi as possible; the more you visit, the better your luck for the coming year. I crawled under the epitaphion, too, and Spiridoula tipped me off that people take flowers from the epitaphion home with them after the evening service to save as filakta — protective amulets.”