Category:Sarcophagus

Sar*coph"a*gus, n.; pl. L. Sarcophagi, e. Sarcophaguses. Etym: [l., Fr. Gr. Sarcasm.]

1. A species of limestone used among the Greeks for making coffins, Which was so called because it consumed within a few weeks the flesh of bodies deposited in it. It is otherwise called lapis assius, or assian stone, and is said to have been found at Assos, a city of Lycia. Holland.

2. A coffin or chest-shaped tomb of the kind of stone described above; hence, any stone coffin.

3. A stone shaped like a sarcophagus and placed by a grave as a memorial.