Lexic.us

Definition of Sarcophagus

1. Noun. A stone coffin (usually bearing sculpture or inscriptions).

Definition of Sarcophagus

1. n. 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.

Definition of Sarcophagus

1. Noun. A stone coffin, often inscribed or decorated with sculpture. ¹

2. Noun. (informal) The cement and steel structure that encases the destroyed reactor at the power station in Chernobyl, Ukraine. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Sarcophagus

1. [n -GI or -GUSES]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Sarcophagus

Literary usage of Sarcophagus

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Supplementary Papers of the American School of Classical Studies in Rome by Archaeological Institute of America (1905)
"The centre of the sarcophagus is occupied by two figures whose faces were ... Marucchi assigns the sarcophagus to the first half of the fourth century, ..."

2. Monuments of the Early Church by Walter Lowrie (1906)
"A decided improvement upon the type of sarcophagus we have ... This is illustrated by the celebrated sarcophagus of Junius Bassus (Fig. ..."

3. Cyprus : Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples: A Narrative of Researches by Luigi Palma di Cesnola, Charles William King, Alexander Stuart Murray (1878)
"The resemblance Tomb, containing the sarcophagus and Alabaster Vases. between this sarcophagus and the Phoenician sarcophagi in the Louvre, from Sidon. is ..."

4. Sculptured Tombs of Hellas by Percy Gardner (1896)
"It seems a fair historical conjecture that the great sarcophagus is that of ... The beauty of the whole sarcophagus cannot be judged from our ..."

5. Sculptured Tombs of Hellas by Percy Gardner (1896)
"It seems a fair historical conjecture that the great sarcophagus is that of ... The beauty of the whole sarcophagus cannot be judged from our ..."

6. Christian Archaeology by Charles W Bennett (1888)
"The other sarcophagus in Rome which sculptures this scene contains a plainly mythological ... 53 represents a sarcophagus from the crypt of Saint Peter's. ..."

Other Resources: