Cenotaph
/ˈsɛnətæf/noun
A monument honoring a dead person or group of people whose remains are buried elsewhere or unknown.
Did you know?In ancient Greece, a cenotaph could be erected for someone lost at sea or whose body could not be recovered, giving the spirit a symbolic resting place.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ken-
“Empty or lacking; the proposed ancestral root behind Greek kenos, “empty”.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
kenos
“Empty, vacant, or lacking.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
taphos
“Tomb or burial place; related to the verb thaptō, “to bury.””
Classical Greek
Greek
kenotaphion
“An empty tomb or memorial tomb for someone whose remains were elsewhere.”
Late Antiquity
Latin
cenotaphium
“A symbolic or empty tomb, borrowed from Greek.”
17th Century
English
cenotaph
“A monument commemorating the dead without containing their body.”
Explore more surprising origins