oraison funèbren.
/ˌɒreɪzɒ̃ fəˈnɛbr(ər)/, /ˌɒreɪz(ɒ)n fəˈnɛbr(ər)/, U.S. /ˈˌɔreɪˌzɑn fəˈnɛbr/ A funeral oration. Also figurative and in extended use.
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the world > life > death > obsequies > [noun] > a funeral > funeral oration
eulogy1591
elogy1677
elogec1725
elogium1776
monody1781
in memoriam1850
oraison funèbre1856
the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [noun] > a speech > for specific occasion or purpose
His Majesty's Speech1583
New Year1595
panegyry1602
panegyric1603
remembrancea1616
valediction1619
panegyris1646
areopagitic1649
Hesped1650
allocution1689
maiden speech1702
Speech from the Throne1751
patter1772
inaugural1832
acceptance speech1855
oraison funèbre1856
keynote speech1863
keynote address1891
valedictory1892
keynote1896
pep speech1912
pep talk1913
1856 G. M. Dallas Let. 25 July (1869) 69 Parliament has but few days longer to live. The session must have its ‘oraison funèbre’.
1874 H. L. Farrer Bossuet vii. 313 [On] the occasion of the Queen's death,..Louis XIV requested him [sc. Bossuet] to preach her Oraison Funèbre. This was in 1683.
1907 G. Meredith Let. 22 Dec. (1970) III. 1620 You will not care for an oraison funèbre.
1953 W. Stevens Let. 16 Nov. (1967) 802 An oraison funebre is not in my line.
1957 N. Frye Anat. Crit. 296 The corresponding form in oratorical prose is the oraison funèbre, which survives in some forms of modern obituary.
1990 New Yorker 5 Feb. 113/2 In ‘Remembrance’, the solo trombone, which delivers the noble oraison funèbre, seems as much a ‘singer’ as the singers of ‘Syringa’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1856