feretory

Etymology

From Middle English feretory, fertre, feretre, et al., from Anglo-Norman fertre, from Latin feretrum (“bier, funeral litter”), from Ancient Greek φέρετρον (phéretron), from the verb φέρω (phérō, “to carry”). Doublet of feretrum.

Why this word is great

FERETORY — [Noun] A receptacle or area in a church where relics of saints are housed. From Middle English feretory, fertre, from Anglo-Norman fertre, from Latin feretrum ("bier, funeral litter"), from Ancient Greek φέρετρον (phéretron, "bier"), from φέρω (phérō, "to carry"). Unlike a "reliquary" (a jeweled casket meant to be carried) or a "bier" (a frame for the newly dead), a feretory is anchored, a fixed point of devotion. It is the dim alcove where candlelight pools around a fragment of bone, the hush of pilgrims pressing lips to glass, the slow accumulation of centuries in the scent of wax and stone—a testament to the human need to touch the untouchable, to make the divine endure.

noun

  1. A receptacle that houses relics of saints.“His remains were placed inside a new and rich feretory, on a platform behind the high altar.”
  2. An area of a church where relics are kept.