# funeral

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈfjuː.nə.ɹəl/ · frequency rank #3,810

## Definitions
1. A ceremony to honor and remember a deceased person, often distinguished from a memorial service by the presence of the body of the deceased.
2. A funeral sermon.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French funerailles pl (“funeral rites”), from Medieval Latin fūnerālia (“funeral rites”), originally neuter plural of Late Latin fūnerālis (“having to do with a funeral”), from Latin fūnus (“funeral, death, corpse”), origin unknown, perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰew- (“to die”). Singular and plural used interchangeably in English until circa 1700. The adjective funereal is first attested 1725, by influence of Middle French funerail, from Latin funereus, from funus. First attested in 1437.
Displaced native Old English līcþeġnung (literally “dead body service”).

## Easily confused with
- **fungal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/funeral-vs-fungal)
- **feral** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feral-vs-funeral)
- **federal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/federal-vs-funeral)

## Common misspellings (10)
`ffuneral`, `fnueral`, `fuenral`, `funearl`, `funerall`, `funerla`, `funerral`, `funneral`, `funreal`, `ufneral`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/funeral