QUISNEBERRY FUNERAL HOME 913-845-2740

QUISENBERRY
FUNERAL HOME
4th and Delaware, Tonganoxie, KS
913-845-2740

Coffin From the Latin cophinus, and from the Greek Kophinus meaning "a Basket". Up until recent times, the funeral director would have used a wicker basket to transport the deceased from the place of death to their funeral homes.	Undertaker Until 1400, the term was used in a general sense to designate someone who undertook something. Later it meant a provider of funeral furniture as well as other functions. The first known advert for the present sense of the word appeared in a New York newspaper in 1768. Since then many terms may be used: funeral director, mortician, thanatologist, grief therapist, subsurface depository engineer, celestial heating engineer, celestial tour operators, those unctuous men in black, etc.	Funeral From the Latin funeralis from funis, a torch. Disposal of the dead in Roman times took place at night, hence the need for torches to light the way.

Lich Gate From the German leiche, a "corpse." Hence the Lich Gate becomes a place where the corpse was temporarily kept while people assembled before processing into the churchyard.	Cemetery From Greek koimeterion, meaning a sleeping room. The association with the final resting place of the dead is obvious.	Pall The "pall" was an ornamental cloth placed over the coffin usually with a religious emblem on it. It derives from the Latin pallium, a cloak. A pallbearer (not the same as a casket-bearer) held the pall aloft on poles providing protection to the casket-bearers while in procession, and they walked on the outside of the casket bearers.

The Dole Mourning cloths distributed to the poor were called "doole" from the Latin doleo, meaning to grieve. Hence "doole" became something given away in relation to grief after a death. Nowadays, it refers to the giving to the deserving from the state's bounty.	Quarantine The word comes from the Italian quarantina, meaning the forty days of mourning expected of the widow before she reappeared in society. Hence, the concept of being separated from everyday activities.	Autopsy Literally "to see with one's own eyes."

The Wake Meant a "watching over the corpse," an Irish tradition. Because someone was watching, family and friends could arrive at any time during the night for the funeral and, as they had often traveled long distances, they were given refreshments. Hence the wake was a pre-funeral celebration, and became the forerunner of the modern post-funeral party. The word comes from Old English waeccan, to wake. The idea of "watching over" was literally to ensure that the person was dead and did not waken during the vigil.	Mausoleum King Mausolus, King of Caria (about 370 BC in ancient Greece) designed his own tomb, 30 m high and to be made of white marble. After his death, his wife built the tomb to house his body. The word is associated with a commemorative building erected over the place of burial.	Dead Beat In England, corpses were given free passage through toll gates; hence the dead "beat the Toll." Eventually the phrase came to be associated with anyone who shirked their responsibilities.