Important Funeral Terms

    When planning a loved one’s funeral or learning more for your own pre-planning needs, it can be important to know what you want. In the funeral service industry, there are also terms used to help make the subject feel less morbid. This can be helpful for those uncomfortable with death. This article will help you understand the ins and outs of funeral terms and some helpful jargon.

    The terms presented are divided into three distinct sections: Funeral Home, Cremation, and Cemetery. This is to help categorize where these terms are most important. For organizational purposes, the terms are presented in alphabetical order within their respective sections. 

Funeral Home Terms

• Bereaved - One who has suffered the death of a loved one. 
• Beir - A stand for a casket in a funeral home.
• Casket - A container designed for the body of the deceased. Caskets are often crafted of wood or metal.
• Casketing - Placement of the body in a casket. This is done after embalming, dressing, and preparing the body. 
• Celebrant - An individual who helps lead the funeral services in place of a clergy member. This is to help the family to focus on their mourning instead of organizing the events of the service. Often, this service is done by a funeral director.
• Embalming - temporary preservation of the deceased for the purposes of a funeral viewing. This helps maintain the status of the body for the sake of the bereaved.
• Eulogist - One who gives a eulogy.
• Eulogy - A speech given by a loved one of the deceased. This can be given at the funeral home, memorial service, church service, or at the cemetery. 
• Family Car - The car that takes the immediate family to the church service and/or cemetery for the burial service. This vehicle often follows directly behind the hearse.
• Flower Car - A vehicle in the funeral procession that carries flowers from the funeral home to the burial site.
• Funeral Director - A staff member of the funeral home who specializes in the organization and implementation of the service. The funeral director is the family’s direct liaison for the service. The funeral director also prepares the body for the funeral service, files death certificates with the state/county, and more.
• Funeral Service - A ceremony that takes place at the funeral home. The body or cremated remains of the deceased are usually present. 
• Graveside Service - A funeral service that takes place at the gravesite.
• Hearse - A vehicle specially designed for the transport of caskets.
• Memorial Service - A ceremony at a funeral home or other venue where the body or cremated remains are not present. 
• Obituary - A news article with details of the deceased. Often includes an account of the deceased’s life and their surviving family members.
• Pallbearer - A person who carries the casket during a service. 
• Plinth - A small decorative column for the display of an urn at the funeral home.
• Prearranged Funeral - The funeral arrangements for the deceased are prepared with the funeral home before the death occurs.
• Prepaid Funeral Trust - Pre-planned funerals are paid for with funds that go into a trust. This trust holds the funds, earning interest until the death occurs. 
• Preplanning - The planning of a funeral service at a funeral home before the individual’s death occurs.
• Procession - The line of vehicles transporting the deceased and the bereaved from the funeral home to the church service or the cemetery.
• Register Book - A keepsake book where the bereaved document their attendance to a funeral service. This is for the immediate family of the deceased, and is often followed up by thank-you cards. 
• State Room - A room in the funeral home where viewings and visitations are held. May also be called a visitation room or viewing room.
• Viewing -  A time for friends and family to gather at the funeral home to see the deceased after they have been prepared in the casket. 
• Visitation - A term similar to viewing. It is often used more for closed-casket services, or those where the remains have been cremated. 
• Wake - An older term for a viewing or a visitation. This term is mostly phased out by the funeral industry, but is more common among older generations.

Cremation Terms

• Ashes - The cremated remains of an individual. Ashes are the pulverized bones and matter remaining after cremation. It is a gray powder with a sandy texture.
• Cremains - Another term for ashes. Portmanteau of “cremated remains.”
• Cremation - The deceased is placed in a solid casket and incinerated, reducing the remains to bones and ash. 
• Direct Cremation - A service offered by funeral homes wherein cremation is not followed by a memorial service. 
• Inurnment - The placement of ashes into an urn.
• Keepsake Jewelry - A jewelry piece that contains a small hollow section for a minute amount of ashes. Keepsake jewelry is often in the form of a necklace, ring, or bracelet. 
• Keepsake Urns - Smaller urns that contain a small portion of the cremated remains.
• Retort - The chamber used to cremate a body. 
• Scattering - The spreading of ashes at a desired location.
• Urn - A container for the ashes of an individual.

Cemetery Terms

• Burial - The act of interring the body in the ground at a cemetery.
• Burial by Sea - The act of performing funeral rites and interring the body in the ocean. Generally, not organized by a cemetery, but by a charter boat organization.
• Columbarium - A room or building within a cemetery that houses urns and other vessels for cremated remains. They often have niches in the walls for display urns, or plaques on the walls with urns behind them.
• Crypt - A chamber or section of a mausoleum created to hold a casket.
• Entombment - The act of sealing a body within a crypt. 
• Grave Liner - A basic concrete container that encloses a buried casket. Generally used to prevent ground sinkage in a cemetery.
• Grave Marker - A plaque used to indicate individual(s) interred in the ground. They are often crafted of granite, stone, or metal. 
• Green Burial - A burial service that involves little to no chemical or preservation practices for the deceased. This avoids preservation practices that inhibit natural decomposition.  This is often done to minimize the environmental impact of the burial. Green burials are not available in all counties in the US.
• Ground Burial - Burying remains in the ground, within a casket, urn, or alternative containment. 
• Internment - Burial or entombment.
• Mausoleum - An above-ground or semi-above-ground building designed to contain crypts and chambers for the remains of the deceased.
• Monument - A carved stone or granite piece created to indicate the deceased interred within. May include an attached plaque or be carved with information and/or a design.  
• Niche - A space in the wall for the interment of urns.
• Plot - a segment of land in the cemetery dedicated to an individual or family.
• Tomb - An excavated chamber for storing remains. 
• Tombstone - A more archaic term for a monument or grave marker. 
• Vault - An outer container that encloses the casket. A vault may be crafted from concrete, plastic, stone, or metal. 

We hope that this glossary of terms is helpful for families to help dispel confusion surrounding funeral services. Death can often be a confusing or even taboo subject. And the funeral industry can often use terms to help soften the morbidity of the loss. We hope that for those who view this glossary, we can better inform families about the services and practices we perform every day. 

For over 50 years, Matthew Funeral Home has been serving the Staten Island community. We can help with almost every aspect of your loved one’s memorial service. Our family is here to serve yours, every step of the way.