Feretory

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A decorative box or shrine used to hold sacred relics, especially in a church setting
2. A special container designed to house and display religious relics, often richly adorned
3. An ornate case or reliquary where objects of religious veneration are kept securely

Etymology: The Greek word "phérō" meant "to carry," and from it came "phéretron," a litter or bier on which the dead were carried. Latin borrowed this as "feretrum," meaning a bier or funeral litter, and the Anglo-Norman "fertre" carried the sense into Middle English as "feretre" and "feretory." Over the centuries, the word moved away from the funeral couch. A feretory came to mean a shrine, a portable case or casket built to hold the relics of a saint, often gilded and richly decorated. Because such relics were kept in these containers, the word shifted from the vehicle that carried a body to the chest that housed holy remains. The word is a doublet of "feretrum," meaning the two forms descended from the same Latin source by different routes into English. The Latin "feretrum" survives in English mainly in learned and scholarly contexts.

Synonyms: shrine, reliquary, sanctuary, altar, tabernacle