Ob"se*quy (?), n.; pl. Obsequies (#). [L. obsequiae, pl., funeral rites, fr. obsequi: cf.F. obseques. 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.

[Obs.]

B. Jonson.

 

© Webster 1913.

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