Dictionary entry

Obsequy

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Ob″se‐quy (?), n.; pl.Obsequies (#). [L. obsequiae, pl., funeral rites, fr. obsequi: cf. F. obsèques. See Obsequent, and cf. Obsequious.] 1. The last duty or service to a person, rendered after his death; hence, a rite or ceremony pertaining to burial; — now used only in the plural. Spencer.

I will... fetch him hence, and solemnly attend,

With silent obsequy and funeral train. Milton

I will myself

Be the chief mourner at his obsequies. Dryden.

The funeral obsequies were decently and privately performed by his family. J. P. Mahaffy.

2. Obsequiousness. B. Jonson.