Other forms: obituaries
An obituary is the newspaper article about somebody who has just died. A life told in eight hundred words.
Serious papers keep them written in advance for the famous, which is why a full account can appear within hours. A good one is not a eulogy, since the best obituaries include the failures as well as the achievements. The short paid notices at the back are death notices rather than obituaries. Mark Twain's remark about reports of his death being exaggerated came from one printed too early.
1nounobituaryA published account of the life of someone who has recently died.
“His obituary ran to a full page.”
An obituary marks a going. Latin obitus meant an approach, a sunset and a death all at once, from obeō, to go towards, because dying was described as going to meet something.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₁ey- — to go
Latin
obitus — act of approaching or going toward, an approach; act of going down, setting; of the sun: sunset; death; destruction, downfall, ruin
Medieval Latin
obituārius — obituary
English, today
obituary
Built from
Medieval Latin obituārius (“obituary”) + -ary. Obituārius is derived from Latin obitus (“act of approaching or going toward, an approach; act of going down, setting; of the sun: sunset; death; destruction, downfall, ruin”) + -ārius; while obitus is a noun use of the perfect passive participle of obeō (“to go to meet, go towards; (figurative) to die, pass away, perish; (astronomy) to set”), from ob- + eō (“to go, move”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₁ey- (“to go”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA