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catafalque

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catafalque

  • /ˈkatəfalk/ UK

Where it comes from

Borrowed from French catafalque, from Italian catafalco, from Vulgar Latin *catafalicum, from Ancient Greek κατά (katá, “down”) + Latin fala (“scaffolding, wooden siege tower”), which is from Etruscan. Also influenced scaffold.

noun catafalques

  1. A platform used to display or convey a coffin during a funeral, often ornate. Until noon, the hour of the funeral, crowds continued to file by the plain pine coffin on its plain flower-covered catafalque.

    Similar: catafalco

Translations

Every language

noun platform to display or convey a coffin

Españoltúmulo
中文靈柩台 língjiù tái, 靈柩車 /灵柩车 língjiù chē, 靈柩臺 /灵柩台 língjiù tái
Portuguêscatafalco, essa
Françaiscatafalque, échafaud
DeutschKatafalk
Italianocatafalco, feretro
Românăcatafalc
Русскийкатафа́лк katafálk

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Cite this
MLA

"catafalque." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/catafalque. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

catafalque. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/catafalque

Chicago

"catafalque." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/catafalque.

BibTeX
@misc{catafalque_2026,
  title = {catafalque},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/catafalque},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}