| aftercare | Counseling or other bereavement support services provided by a funeral home to bereaved individuals and families.
|
 |
|
|
| body disposition | Disposal of a corpse, which occurs primarily for sanitary reasons, although the specific method is influenced by social, cultural, religious, psychological, and personal considerations.
|
|
|
|
| burial | A form of body disposition that encompasses a range of practices, including a grave dug in the soil as well as entombment in a mausoleum or burial at sea; may involve disposal of the whole body or just the bones or cremated remains.
|
|
|
|
| casket | A rectangular container for the disposition of a corpse.
|
|
|
|
| cemetery | A burial ground or place for burial.
|
|
|
|
| coffin | A container for the disposition of a corpse that, in contrast to a casket, is hexagonal and has shaped shoulders.
|
|
|
|
| columbarium | A structure with a series of vaults or niches for urns that usually contain human remains.
|
|
|
|
| columbarium | A structure with a series of vaults or niches for urns that usually contain human remains.
|
|
|
|
| committal | A ceremony held at the grave or crematorium focusing on disposition of the deceased's remains.
|
|
|
|
| cremation | The process of reducing a dead body to ashes by burning or intense heat.
|
|
|
|
| cryogenic suspension | The practice of subjecting a corpse or body part (typically a head) to extremely cold temperature with the aim of "suspending" biological activity until some time in the future when a cure for the disease that caused the death has been developed and life can be restored.
|
|
|
|
| crypt | Historically, an underground burial vault or chamber, often situated beneath the floor of a church or cathedral; more recently, a chamber or vault in a mausoleum.
|
|
|
|
| cybermourners | Mourners who participate in funeral services by watching live video of a funeral via the Internet.
|
|
|
|
| death notification | The process of announcing that a death has occurred. Important elements include timely notification, control of the physical environment, details of the efforts to save life, explanation of the cause(s) of death, and appropriate emotional support. A standardized report giving brief details about a person's life and published, usually in small type in a single column, in a newspaper after his or her death. An account of a person's life and death printed in a format similar to other feature stories
|
|
|
|
| direct cremation | A method of body disposition in which the corpse is immediately taken for cremation without formal viewing of the remains or any visitation or ceremony with the body present.
|
|
|
|
| embalming | A process of treating a corpse with chemicals or other substances to temporarily retard decay or deterioration.
|
|
|
|
| entombment | To place in a tomb or grave. See also crypt.
|
|
|
|
| FTC Funeral Rule | The Trade Regulation Rule on Funeral Industry Practices, implemented by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in 1984; requires that funeral service providers give detailed information about prices and legal requirements to people who are purchasing funeral services.
|
|
|
|
| funeral | An organized, purposeful, time-limited, group-centered response to death (William Lamers). A rite of passage for both the deceased and his or her survivors, usually with the body present in a place of honor; typically includes music, prayers, readings from scripture or other poetry or prose, a eulogy honoring the deceased, and sometimes a sermon on the role of death in human life.
|
|
|
|
| funeral director | A person engaged in the business of professionally managing or arranging funerals and related services, typically including preparing the dead for burial or other disposition; also known as a mortician or undertaker.
|
|
|
|
| funeral home | A business establishment with facilities for preparing the dead for burial or cremation as well as for viewing of the body and other funeral ceremonies.
|
|
|
|
| funerary artifacts | Manufactured objects, personal effects, and other grave goods associated with intentional burials or cremations as an expression of social bonding.
|
|
|
|
| grave goods | Manufactured objects, personal effects, and other grave goods associated with intentional burials or cremations as an expression of social bonding.
|
|
|
|
| grave liner | A container, usually of metal or concrete, designed to support the earth around and above a casket and into which a casket is placed at burial.
|
|
|
|
| grave marker | An inscribed tablet, usually made of bronze or stone, that serves to identify or commemorate the person buried in a grave. A memorial structure, usually of stone, bronze, or other metal, erected in remembrance of a person.
|
|
|
|
| immediate burial | A method of body disposition in which the corpse is taken immediately for burial without formal viewing of the remains or any visitation or ceremony with the body present.
|
|
|
|
| itemized pricing | As a requirement of the FTC Funeral Rule, funeral businesses must provide itemized information on a general price list to allow customers to compare prices or choose only those elements of a funeral that they wish to purchase.
|
|
|
|
| last rites | The ritual or ceremonial practices that take place concurrently with disposal of the corpse.
|
|
|
|
| mausoleum | An aboveground structure of concrete, marble, or other stone in which one or more bodies are entombed in vaults or chambers. . Historically, an underground burial vault or chamber, often situated beneath the floor of a church or cathedral; more recently, a chamber or vault in a mausoleum.
|
|
|
|
| memorial service | A ceremony held in memory of a person who has died, typically without the body present. See also funeral.
|
|
|
|
| memorial society | A cooperative, usually nonprofit, organization that offers body disposition services to members at reduced cost by arranging such services on the basis of volume purchasing.
|
|
|
|
| memorialization | (1) An act of remembrance or commemoration; specifically, an act performed with the aim of honoring and remembering the dead. (2) The practice of preserving the identity of a person buried in a particular place by recording his or her name on a grave marker.
|
|
|
|
| mortician | A person engaged in the business of professionally managing or arranging funerals and related services, typically including preparing the dead for burial or other disposition; also known as a mortician or undertaker.
|
|
|
|
| mortuary | A business establishment with facilities for preparing the dead for burial or cremation as well as for viewing of the body and other funeral ceremonies.
|
|
|
|
| niche | A recess in a wall into which an urn is placed.
|
|
|
|
| procession | A journey of mourners to convey the corpse from the site of the funeral to the place of burial or cremation.
|
|
|
|
| undertaker | A person engaged in the business of professionally managing or arranging funerals and related services, typically including preparing the dead for burial or other disposition; also known as a mortician or undertaker.
|
|
|
|
| vault | A container, usually of metal or concrete, designed to support the earth around and above a casket and into which a casket is placed at burial.
|
|
|
|
| viewing room | A room set aside in a funeral home where the casketed body is viewed by family and friends before a funeral service. See also visitation.
|
|
|
|
| vigil | A gathering of relatives and friends to say farewells and show respect for a dying person and to give support to his or her family; also known as a deathwatch.
|
|
|
|
| virtual cemeteries | Sites on the Internet that offer space for posting photographs and biographical information about the dead and where visitors have opportunities to sign a guestbook and leave "digital" flowers.
|
|
|
|
| visitation | A modern version of the wake in which time is set aside for viewing of the body before a funeral service, providing opportunities for social support and interaction among the bereaved; also known as calling hours.
|
|
|
|
| wake | Traditionally held on the night after death occurs, this practice involves laying out the corpse and keeping a watch or "wake" over it both as a safeguard against premature burial and to pay respects to the deceased.
|
|
|
|
| water burial | A method of body disposition that typically involves ceremonially sliding the corpse off the side of a ship ("burial at sea") or, less commonly, placing the corpse inside a boat that is set aflame and then set adrift.
|