Sarcophaguses

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sarcophagus \Sar*coph"a*gus\, n.; pl. L. {Sarcophagi}, E.
     {Sarcophaguses}. [L., fr. Gr. sarkofa`gos, properly, eating
     flesh; sa`rx, sa`rkos, flesh + fagei^n to eat. Cf.
     {Sarcasm}.]
     1. A species of limestone used among the Greeks for making
        coffins, which was so called because it consumed within a


        few weeks the flesh of bodies deposited in it. It is
        otherwise called {lapis Assius}, or {Assian stone}, and is
        said to have been found at Assos, a city of Lycia.
        --Holland.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A coffin or chest-shaped tomb of the kind of stone
        described above; hence, any stone coffin.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A stone shaped like a sarcophagus and placed by a grave as
        a memorial.
        [1913 Webster]