APPRENTICE | The name generally applied to an individual learning the embalming and funeral directing procedure under the supervision of a licensee.
ARRANGEMENT ROOM | A room of the funeral home used to make the necessary funeral arrangements with the family of the deceased.
ASPIRATE | Process of extracting fluids and gases from the abdominal cavity.
BACKGROUND DRAPES | Ornamental drapes (typically crafted from velour) organized on a frame and positioned behind the casket as a backdrop.
BEREAVED | (N) The immediate relatives of the departed. (V) experiencing sorrow upon the passing of a beloved.
BURIAL | Placing of a deceased individual in a subterranean chamber – earth burial – interment.
The government issues a legal document called a burial permit that authorizes the local authorities to allow the removal, cremation, or burial of a deceased person’s body at a distant location.
The principal amount paid in a funeral insurance policy is particularly used for wearing specially made burial garments, rather than cash, merchandise, and funeral services.
Following the burial, the majority of cemeteries ensure that a grave collapse is averted by mandating a sturdier vault or liner, which is a container resembling a box used to hold a casket for burial in the ground.
A canopy is a portable shelter that is sometimes used to cover a grave area during a service, allowing passengers to board and alight from vehicles directly without being exposed to the elements. It is like a projecting structure with a roof, constructed outside the wall and over the driveway.
CASH ADVANCE ITEMS | Goods and services furnished by a third party and paid for by the funeral director on your behalf.
The term “burial case” or “coffin” is sometimes used. A casket is a receptacle made of plastic, metal, or wood into which the deceased human body is placed for burial.
The funeral coach, also known as a hearse, is a motor coach used and designed to convey the casketed remains from the place of the funeral service to the cemetery.
CASKETING | Placing the body in the casket after embalming, dressing, and cosmetizing.
CASKET RACK | A device that enables coffins to be stacked on top of each other for the purpose of display.
The casket is covered with a transparent net or silk for the purpose of keeping insects and other flies away.
CATAFALQUE | A platform on which the casketed remains are placed while lying in state and during the funeral ceremony.
GRAVEYARD | A designated area of land reserved for the interment or burial of the departed.
CENOTAPH | A vacant tomb or memorial constructed in remembrance of an individual interred elsewhere.
The local government can request a legalized copy of the original death certificate in order to substantiate various claims made by the deceased’s family, such as benefits, insurance, and other purposes.
CHAPEL | A spacious chamber of the funeral home where the farewell ceremony takes place.
FUNERAL TRUCK | A foldable catafalque utilized for funerals.
CLIENTS | Those who utilize the services of the mortician.
COFFIN | A tapered burial container, typically octagonal in shape.
COLUMBARIUM | A construction of vaults adorned with alcoves for urns holding cremated ashes.
BURIAL CEREMONY | The last part of the funeral service when the deceased is laid to rest or placed in a tomb.
An alternative container, typically made of pressboard or fiberboard, is a box of the same dimensions as a casket and is commonly used for immediate or direct cremations.
If there was no physician present for a long time prior to the death, it is the duty of the constitutional officer, whose duty is to investigate the case of death, if it appears to be from natural causes rather than other causes, and in some cases, a public official, to investigate the case.
CORTEGE | The burial march.
COSMETOLOGY | The use of cosmetics to bring back a lifelike appearance to the deceased.
CREMAINS | The ashes of a body after cremation; cremated remains.
When pulverized, small bone fragments or crushed seashells are transformed into coarse sand-like consistency. The process of cremation, involving the application of heat, reduces the body.
CREMATION AUTHORIZATION | A document provided by the local authorities to permit the cremation of the deceased.
CREMATORY | A structure with a furnace known as a retort, utilized for the cremation of human remains (or the furnace/retort itself).
CRYPT | A chamber or enclosure utilized for preserving remains.
COT | The stretcher-like conveyance used to transport deceased individuals from the place of their demise to the funeral home.
DEATH | The end of all essential functions without the ability to revive.
The legal document, known as a Death Certificate, is signed by the attending physician and contains vital statistical data and information about the cause of death.
A death notice is a paragraph in the classified section of a newspaper that announces the passing of an individual and includes the specific details about the funeral service that the surviving family members want to share. These notices typically include the names of the deceased person’s relatives.
DECEASED | (N) an individual in whom all bodily functions have ended; (V) lifeless.
The body is transferred directly from the place of death to the funeral home, where it is then placed in a casket and delivered to the burial site.
Cremation Direct | The deceased individual is moved from the location of death to the funeral residence, placed in a receptacle, and transported straight to a crematorium. No opportunity for public viewing is provided.
EXHUME | To remove the remains from the burial site; to unearth.
VIEWING AREA | The area in the funeral home where caskets, Urns, burial garments and occasionally vaults are showcased.
The ultimate resting spot for the deceased body or for ashes is known as DISPOSITION. Possibilities encompass interment of the body in the ground or a tomb; interment, scattering, or placement of cremated remains in an urn for positioning in a recess or bringing it back home; contributing the body to a scientific institution; or burial in the ocean (not allowed in the Great Lakes).
DOOR BADGE | A flower arrangement placed on the entrance of a house where a death has occurred.
EARTH BURIAL | Interment of a deceased individual in a grave.
Embalming is the process of temporarily preserving and sanitizing a dead body by circulating antiseptic and preservative through veins and arteries.
The embalmer prepares the bodies of dead humans for transportation, using preservative fluids or disinfectants for the restoration of mutilated features, plastic or derma surgery, and infectious or contagious diseases.
EMBALMING SOLUTION | Fluid chemicals utilized in the preservation of a deceased individual.
EMBALMING TABLE | An operating table usually constructed of metal with a porcelain surface upon which the remains are placed for embalming.
ENTOMBMENT | Placing the deceased in a casket above the ground within a mausoleum.
ETHICS | The ethical principles that govern the professionals in their proper behavior and responsibilities.
EXHUME | To unearth the remains; to relocate from the burial site.
FUNERAL VEHICLE | That luxury vehicle in the funeral procession reserved for the utilization of the immediate family.
A specially arranged room in the funeral home provides the family with privacy during the funeral service.
Floral transport | A vehicle used for transporting flower arrangements from the funeral home to the place of worship and/or cemetery.
FLOWER HOLDERS AND DISPLAYS | Wooden or metal displays and holders of different heights used for arranging flowers around the casket.
FINAL RITES | The memorial ceremony.
First, he has an urgent need to visit the funeral director’s office to secure certain information and to make arrangements for the deceased’s removal.
FUNERAL COACH | Check out the Casket Coach.
FUNERAL PLANS | Funeral director’s meeting with the family to finalize financial and service particulars of a funeral.
Funeral director, mortician: Synonym. A professional who maintains a funeral establishment, supervises the disposition or burial of dead human bodies, and prepares them for other forms of disposition or burial. They also provide counseling to the survivors.
FUNERAL RESIDENCE | A structure utilized for the intention of preserving, organizing, and carrying out funerals.
1) The management of deceased individuals, which is the occupation; 2) The ultimate handling of the deceased body, carried out promptly following religious or alternative ceremonies.
A collective mass of cut flowers, known as a funeral spray, is sent to the funeral home or the residence of the deceased as a floral tribute.
GRAVE | A dig in the ground for the intention of laying the deceased to rest.
Most cemeteries usually require a grave liner to prevent the collapse of a grave after the burial, as an additional precaution to protect the remains from the elements. The casket is placed into a receptacle made of wood, metal, or concrete.
A marker grave (or memorial) is a specific method of identifying a grave’s occupant. Grave markers are typically made of metal or stone and are meant to be permanent. These markers provide data such as the individual’s name, date and place of birth, and date and place of death.
BURIAL SERVICES | Official committal services conducted at the graveyard.
The honorary pallbearers, who are members or friends of a fraternal, social, or religious organization, act as an escort or honor guard for the deceased. However, they do not carry the casket.
HOSPICE | An organization, staffed mainly by volunteers, dedicated to the care of the terminally ill who choose to die at home.
INQUEST | A formal investigation or examination typically conducted before a jury to establish the cause of death.
IN STATE | The custom of availing the deceased for viewing by relatives and friends prior to or after the funeral service.
EQUIPMENT | The diverse instruments needed in the embalming procedure.
INTER (to) | To inter a deceased individual in the ground within a burial plot or mausoleum.
INTERMENT | The act of laying to rest.
INURNMENT | The act of placing the remains of a deceased individual in an urn after cremation.
The march towards the church and/or graveyard is led by the leading vehicle, which is the car that carries the funeral director and occasionally the clergyman. Once the procession is organized, the lead car advances to the front of it.
LICENSE | An authorization from the state granting permission to carry out responsibilities that, without such permission, would be unlawful.
LIMOUSINE | A car created to accommodate five or more individuals behind the driver’s seat.
Slowly lower the casket into the grave using a cylinder and release the straps from the mechanism upon opening. An apparatus is placed over the open grave which has two or more straps to support the casket during the opening. The mechanism is used for lowering the casket into the grave.
MAUSOLEUM | A public or private structure specifically constructed to accommodate burials. A lasting above ground final resting place for the deceased.
MARKER | A monument or commemoration to indicate the location of interment.
The appointed government official, known as a MEDICAL EXAMINER, is responsible for thoroughly investigating and performing autopsies on dead bodies to determine the cause of death, including circumstances such as crime, suicide, and violence. They possess extensive medical knowledge and expertise.
MEMORIAL SERVICE | A spiritual ceremony held in remembrance of the departed individual without the physical presence of their remains.
The minister can set aside a room in the funeral home where he can make any last-minute preparations for the funeral service.
MORGUE | A location where deceased bodies are transported and displayed until they can be identified by family members.
FUNERAL DIRECTOR | See mortician.
MORTUARY | A synonym for funeral home – a facility specifically designed and built for tending to the deceased.
FUNERAL SCIENCE | That aspect of the funeral service industry involving the appropriate preparation of the deceased for their final resting place.
MOURNER | A person who attends the funeral as a gesture of love or reverence for the departed.
The urns containing cremated remains are placed in these niches as a final resting place. This building, called a columbarium, is specifically designed for the purpose of placing urns with cremated remains in shell-like spaces on a wall.
Obituaries are sometimes published in newspapers to announce a person’s death. These notices typically include the name of the deceased, as well as a brief description of their biography and age.
Pallbearers are individuals hired in some sections of the country and other sections where close relatives and friends of the deceased are located. Their duty is to carry the casket when necessary during the funeral service.
A plot usually contains two or more graves. A specific area of ground in a cemetery owned by a family or individual.
PREPLANNED FUNERAL | Funeral arrangements finalized by an individual before their passing.
PREPLANNED BURIAL FUND | A technique through which a person can pre-allocate funds for their funeral costs.
The prearrangement, defined as funding in advance for funeral expenses, offers the option of either trusting a life insurance policy or utilizing prepayment, except for the funding specifically allocated for the funeral.
Preplanning or prearranging, also known as preneed, usually involves creating a list of your funeral preferences in advance of the death.
PREPARATION ROOM | A chamber in a funeral home intended and furnished for readying the deceased for ultimate placement.
PREPARATION TABLE | A surgical table situated in the preparation area where the corpse is positioned for preservation and attire.
PRICE LIST | A detailed list of funeral merchandise and services.
The processional movement of the funeral from the location where the funeral service was held to the burial ground. May also refer to a church funeral where the attendees follow the coffin as it is brought into and taken out of the church.
Improper or ineffective embalming can lead to putrefaction, which results in a discharge called PURGE from the deceased’s mouth, nose, and ears. This discharge consists of matter from the stomach and intestines.
PUTREFACTION | The decay of the body upon demise which leads to discoloration and the creation of a noxious odorous substance.
The funeral home has made available a book for the funeral director to record the names of people visiting the funeral home to pay their respects to the deceased. The book also has space for entering other data such as the deceased’s date and time of service, place of interment, the name of the clergyman officiating, and the dates of birth and death of the deceased.
REMAINS | The departed.
The body lies in a room of the funeral home where the casketed time is until the time of the funeral service.
RESTORATIVE ART | Dermatological surgery – The procedure of repairing damaged and deformed features.