🏗️ A difficult task ⚰️ Funeral work

undertaking

2 7.2

A business that prepares dead bodies and arranges funerals

noun
/ˈʌndərˌteɪkɪŋ/

: funeraria

And just think what this will do for your father's undertaking business.
undertaking parlor

Examples

After the service, we decided to visit the undertaking home to finalize the funeral arrangements.
He had been a gospel singer, a foreman on the railroad, and an assistant in an undertaking.

Fiction book (2001)
For the next decade, Salafia advertised his embalming solutions in various journals of the undertaking profession.

Academic text (2003)
She chose to pursue a career in undertaking because she wanted to help families during their time of loss.
The undertaking profession requires both compassion and attention to detail when preparing for a funeral.

Compounds

dangerous undertaking

1 6.3

An action or plan that has a high risk of causing serious harm

Surface Forms

undertaking singular

undertakings plural

Morphology

undertaking = undertake (opaque) = under + take + ing

Although morphologically 'undertake' + '-ing' forms the noun, the specialized sense 'the funeral business' is a historical extension not predictable from the base verb for most learners.

Etymology

Undertaking comes from the verb undertake (from under- + take) which meant 'to take on' a job or responsibility, so a firm that 'takes on' the work of funerals became known as an undertaking. That's why undertaking can mean the funeral business.