noun
sarcophagus
sah-KO-fuh-guhs
noun
1
A stone coffin, often elaborately carved or inscribed, used especially in ancient burial customs.
"The pharaoh's sarcophagus was covered in gold hieroglyphics."
"Archaeologists uncovered a Roman sarcophagus beneath the vineyard."
2
A protective structure of concrete and steel built to seal off a destroyed nuclear reactor, as at Chernobyl.
"A new steel sarcophagus now covers the damaged reactor at Chernobyl."
How to Use Sarcophagus
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA carved stone coffin, or by extension, a large protective shell built to contain something dangerous.
Common pairings
stone sarcophagus
ancient sarcophagus
seal a sarcophagus
Word Forms
sarcophagused past tense, sarcophagi plural, sarcophaguses plural, sarcophagusses plural, sarcophaguses singular
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Etymology
From Latin "sarcophagus," from Greek "sarkophagos," literally "flesh-eating" — originally describing a type of limestone believed to dissolve the flesh of corpses, later used for stone coffins.