Glossary of Funeral Terms

Aron
(A-rone) the burial casket. Jewish burial requires a wooden casket in keeping with the Biblical teaching "For dust art thou and to the dust thou shalt return" (Genesis 3:19)
Arrangement Conference
A meeting in which the Funeral Director gathers with the family of the deceased to make funeral arrangements.
Arrangement Room
A room in the funeral home used to make the necessary funeral arrangements with the family of the deceased.
Atneed
Funeral and cemetery arrangements made at the time of death.
Burial
Placing of remains in an underground chamber, usually in a cemetery; also called ground burial interment.
Burial Certificate or Permit
A legal document issued by the local government authorizing disposition. The permit may authorize ground burial, cremation, entombment or removal.
Burial Vault
A lined and sealed unit that is specifically engineered to support the weight of the earth grave as well as the heavy equipment that passes over it.
Casket
A container made of wood, metal or plastic into which the body is placed for interment. Caskets are sometimes referred to as "coffins."
Cemetery
A business with property set aside for the disposition of the deceased.
Certified Death Certificate
A certified copy of the original certificate issued by the local government.  Certified death certificates are used when making claims for insurance and other death benefits.
Chapel
A large room in the funeral home in which the funeral or memorial service is held.
Columbarium
A structure, similar to a mausoleum, but designed for inurnment of cremated remains.
Committal Service
The final portion of the funeral service at which time the deceased is interred or entombed and the last remarks or prayers are said; also referred to as graveside service.
Companion Crypt
A vault of chamber designed for two side-by-side burial.
Cosmetology
Use of cosmetics to restore appearance to the deceased.
Cremation
The reduction of human remains to small bone fragments through the use of intense heat and pulverization.
Cremation Garden
A dedicated section of a cemetery designed for the burial, scattering or other permanent placement of ashes.
Cremation Permit
A certificate issued by local government authorizing cremation of the deceased.
Crematory
A building which houses a retort.
Crypt
A vault or chamber used for keeping remains.
Death Certificate
A legal document signed by the attending physician showing the cause of death and other vital statistical data pertaining to the deceased.
Disinter
To remove the remains from their place of interment.
Display Room
The room in the funeral home in which funeral merchandise such as:  caskets, urns, burial garments and vaults are displayed.
Embalm
The process of preserving a body by means of circulating or placing preservative and antiseptic through the veins, arteries and body cavities.
Eulogy
A brief speech that offers praise and celebrates the life of the person who has passed.
Exhume
To disinter.
Family Car
The vehicle, often a limousine, in the funeral procession set aside for use by the immediate family. 
Family Room
A specially arranged room in the funeral home which affords the family privacy at the time of the funeral service.
Flower Car
A vehicle used for the transportation of flower pieces from the funeral home to the church and/or cemetery.
Final Disposition
The final arrangement, generally referring to the decision to choose between burial or cremation. 
Final Rites
The funeral service.
First Call
The initial call from the family notifying the funeral home of a death and requesting the funeral homes services. 
Full Couch
A casket which opens completely from one end to the other.
Funeral Director
A professional who helps families to plan funeral services for their loved ones while honoring the deceased and celebrating a life lived. Synonym: mortician, undertaker.
Funeral Home
A business that offers funeral services for the deceased and their families. Also called a mortuary.
Funeral Service
A ceremony marking an individual’s death. The funeral service can be a religious or cultural event and helps to honor the deceased.
Funeral Spray
A collective mass of cut flowers sent to the residence of the deceased or to the funeral home as a floral tribute to the deceased.
Grave
An excavation in the earth for the purpose of burying the deceased.
Grave or Memorial Marker
Commonly referred to as headstones, these are memorials that are usually made of metal or stone which include such information as the name of the individual, date of birth and death,  symbols and words of tribute; also called monuments when they stand upright. 
Half Couch
A casket in which only half of the top opens from the head to the waist of the deceased
Hearse
A motor coach designed and usually used for the transporting of the casketed remains from the place the funeral service is conducted to the cemetery. A hearse is also known as a coach.
Inter
To bury human remains in the earth in a grave or tomb.
Interment
The burial or final placement of remains.
Inurnment
The placement of cremated human remains in an urn and a placement of such urn in a niche, crypt, grave or other suitable location in a Cemetery
Kaddish
(Ka-dish) the traditional prayer in praise of God, recited after burial.
Keriah
(Kree-ah) the practice of rending or cutting a garment, or symbolically wearing a cut black ribbon over the heart, to indicate that one is in mourning. Those observing keriah are generally adult children, father/mother, brother/sister, or spouse of the deceased.
Kvurah B'kara
(Kvoo-rah B’kar-kah) burial in the ground. Biblical mandate requires burial in the ground, filling the grave completely until a mound is formed. Participation in filling the grave is a religious privilege and duty and an expression of honor for the deceased. Above ground burial is an option you may discuss with the.
Lead Car
The vehicle in which the Funeral Director and sometimes the clergyman rides. When the procession is formed, the lead car moves to the head and leads the procession to the church and/or cemetery.
Limousine
A luxurious automobile designed to seat five or more persons behind the driver's seat.
Mausoleum
A public or private building especially designed for entombment. It is usually a permanent, above-ground resting place for the deceased.
Memorial Benches
Benches that either simply memorialize a loved one scattered or buried in a cremation garden, or actually contain the remains within.
Memorial Donation
A memorial contribution specified to a particular cause or charity, usually in lieu of flowers.
Memorial Service
A service conducted in memory of the deceased without the remains being present; also called a tribute service.
Minister's Room
A room in the funeral home set aside for the clergyman wherein he or she can prepare for the funeral service.
Morgue
A place in which the bodies of persons found deceased are kept until identified and claimed or until arrangements for burial have been made.
Next-of-Kin
a person's nearest relative; the person who hold the responsibility for making decisions for the funeral on behalf of the deceased.
Niche
A recess in a wall or columbarium used for the placement of urns containing cremated remains.
Obituary
The paragraph in the obituary section of a newspaper, or on the Internet, publicizing the death of a person and giving details of the funeral service the survivors wish to have published.
Outer Burial Container
A concrete, metal or wood structure used to support a casket in the ground.
Pallbearers
Individuals whose duty is to carry the casket when necessary during funeral service. Pallbearers in some sections of the country are hired and in other sections are close friends and relatives of the deceased.
Plot
- A measured piece of land in a cemetery in which interment rights are purchased by a family or individual. A plot usually contains two or more graves.
Prearranged Funeral
Funeral arrangements completed by an individual prior to his/her death, often funded by insurance or trust.
Preparation Room
A room in a funeral home designed and equipped for preparing the deceased for final disposition.
Preplan
Preplanning is the process in which an individual creates their statement of wishes for their final event plan allowing loved ones to focus on celebrating a life lived.
Private Family Estate
A small section of a cemetery, usually bordered by gates, shrubbery or other dividers, that allow for ground burial of several members of the same family. 
Private Family Mausoleum
An above-ground structure designed to hold, on average, two to twelve decedents, usually members of the same family. 
Private Service
This service is by invitation only and may be held at a place of worship, a funeral home or a family home.
Procession
The vehicular movement of the funeral from the place where the funeral service was conducted to the cemetery. May also apply to a church funeral where the mourners follow the casket as it is brought into and taken out of the church.
Register
A book made available by the Funeral Director for recording the names of people visiting the funeral home to pay their respects to the deceased. Also has space for entering other data such as name, dates of birth and death of the deceased, name of the officiating clergyman, place of interment, time and date of service, list of floral tributes, etc.
Scattering Garden
A dedicated section of a cemetery wherein families can scatter the ashes of their loved ones. Often plaques are available to memorialize the loved ones whose remains have been scattered there.
Service Car
Usually a utility vehicle to which tasteful ornamentation may be added in the form of a metal firm name plate, post lamps, etc. It is utilized to transport chairs, church trucks, flower stands, shipping cases, etc.
Sheloshim
- (sh’losh-sheem) the thirty days following burial (including shiva).
Shiva
(Shee-vah) the traditional seven-day mourning period immediately following burial, observed by the bereaved. Consult your rabbi for details on the customs and observances of shiva.
Shmira
(Shmee-rah) the watching of remains. To show respect to the departed, the deceased is never left alone until after burial. The Schomer (Watcher) traditionally recites psalms.
Sympathy Card
A card sent to the family to express their sympathy.
Tachrichim
(Takh-ree-kheem) the burial shroud. A full set of traditional white clothing, preferably made of linen, includes: hat, shirt, pants, jacket, belt and wrapping sheet. This garment symbolizes equality and purity.
Taharah
(Ta-ha-rah) the traditional washing and dressing of the deceased with dignity. Performed by trained members of the Chevra Kadisha (Sacred Society). In accordance with Jewish traditional law, men prepare men, while women prepare women. Embalming, cosmetizing or any other artificial preparation of the remains is not permitted by Jewish law.
Urn
A container, into which cremated remains are placed, made of metal, wood or stone.
Visitation
An opportunity for survivors and friends to view the deceased in private usually in a special room within the funeral home; also referred to as viewing. 
Visitation Room
A room of the funeral home where family and friends gather.
Wake
A watch kept over the deceased, sometimes lasting the entire night preceding the funeral.