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Glite Dictionary
committal service

committal service

7.5
A short ceremony at a grave or crematorium when people say goodbye to a dead person
  • noun
  • /kəˈmɪtəl ˈsɜrvɪs/
translation icon : servicio de inhumación
  • Family and friends gathered for the committal service to say their final goodbyes.

Examples

  • The committal service will be held at the cemetery following the funeral.

  • The priest spoke a few words during the committal service as the casket was lowered.

  • The family held a committal service for their beloved grandmother.

  • Many friends attended the committal service yesterday.

  • The family gathered at the cemetery for the committal service to honor their beloved grandfather.

  • During the committal service, friends and relatives shared memories of the deceased.

  • The pastor led the committal service with a heartfelt speech about the importance of remembering loved ones.

Synonyms

funeral
vscommittal service
820 1.9

A ceremony to bury or cremate a person who has died

is the specific ceremony at the final resting place within a larger memorial
burial
vscommittal service
172 3.5

The act of placing a dead body in a grave, often with a ceremony

is a ceremony that can be at a grave or a cremation site
interment
vscommittal service
  • Formal
4 8.4

The act of placing a dead body in a grave after a funeral

is used for graves and also for cremation sites
entombment
vscommittal service
  • Formal
1 8.9

The act of placing a dead body in a tomb or grave during a funeral

is used for graves and cremation sites rather than tombs only
inurnment
vscommittal service
  • Formal
1 9.9

The act of placing ashes into an urn during a funeral or memorial

focuses on committing a body to its final resting place, not urn placement
inhumation
vscommittal service
  • Specialized
9.9

Putting a dead person in a grave

focuses on a ceremony at the final resting place and may include cremation

Antonyms

exhumation
  • Specialized
11 9.4

To dig up a buried body to examine it

How Formal

funeral
820 1.9
committal service
7.5
graveside
5 4.1

Surface Forms

committal service singular
committal services plural

Morphology

committal + service

The phrase is compositional: 'committal' denotes the act of committing a body to its final resting place and 'service' denotes a ceremony, so together they straightforwardly mean a ceremony for committing a body (burial or cremation). This is a regular noun+noun/modifier pattern found across languages, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Committal service comes from the image of a short ceremony where people 'commit' a body to its 'final resting place', such as being lowered into a grave or taken to a cremation site. The word committal is the act of placing the body and service is the ceremony, so the phrase means the final ceremony when the body is put to rest.