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DictionaryrequiemService for the dead
noun

requiem

REK-wee-um/ˈrekwiəm/

A service offered for the repose of the dead.

The singers take part in a requiem beside the flower-covered coffin.

A small contemporary memorial performance: two solemn singers perform beside a flower-covered closed coffin and a framed portrait of the deceased, making the music's commemorative purpose visible.
Etymology
reLatinperhaps adds emphasis
+quiemLatinrest, quiet

Rest, with re- perhaps adding emphasis, is the key image: “Requiem” opens the prayer asking for eternal rest for the dead. That opening word became the name of the service and of music honoring the dead.

In context

Highland Radio Ireland63:14
Requiem Mass in Saint croon's Church Don Liu with burial afterwards in Mahari Cemetery
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More examples

  • Her family requests a requiem at their parish church.
  • We gather in the chapel for a requiem.
  • The cathedral holds requiems on the anniversaries of their deaths.

Forms

requiem · requiems

Similar words

funeral
A ceremony marking a death, not necessarily praying for repose.
memorial
A commemorative gathering that need not include prayers for repose.