obsequy means the last office for the dead. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 89 out of 100.
obsequy is pronounced /ˈɔbsɪ.kwiː/.
Why “obsequy” is a great word
OBSEQUY — [Noun] A funeral rite or ceremony, especially the culminating service performed for the dead. From Middle English *obseque*, from Old French *obseque*, from Latin *obsequiī* (“complaisant, yielding”), influenced by and confused with Latin *exsequiae* (“funeral rites”), from *exsequī* (“to follow out, accompany to the grave”); first attested in English in the late 14th century. Unlike a “funeral”—the general event—or the unctuousness of “obsequious”—a distant cousin of the same yielding root—an obsequy is the formal, structured act of final attendance. It is the measured toll of the passing bell, the slow pivot of a pallbearer’s foot on gravel, and the hollow percussion of earth striking polished wood—the last, yielding gesture a community makes before the absolute and unaccompanied departure.
Etymology
From Middle English obseque, from Old French obseque, osseque, from Latin obsequiī (“complaisant, yielding”), alteration of obsequia (“compliance”) (by confusion, in association with exsequia (“funeral rites”), from exsequī (“follow or accompany to the grave”)).
noun
- The last office for the dead.
- A funeral rite or service.“And to the ladyes he reſtored agayn / The bodyes of her huſbandes yͭ were ſlayn / To done obſequies as tho was the gyſe.”