Village Memorial End-of-Life Glossary

Some words have jumped out at us over the course of our work with aging, death and dying and end-of-life care. This glossary explores the psychology of aging, and death and dying as reflected in language.

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z

~A~

• Active Dying - in the process of physically dying; permanent cessation of bodily functions
• Advance Directive - a written document that indicates what types of medical treatments a person wants and whom the doctor should talk to when a person is unable to speak for himself/herself. This document is the combination of a Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare.
• Age anxiety - age focused worry, concern, apprehension, apprehensiveness, uneasiness, unease, fearfulness, fear, disquiet, disquietude, inquietude, perturbation, agitation, angst, misgiving, nervousness,
• Age deficiencies - deficiencies brought about by one's age
• Age Identity - Identity one develops by one's experiences build over time (determined by age)
• Age Ideology - a system of ideas and ideals, esp. one that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy
• Age peers - his academic peers equal, coequal, fellow, confrere; contemporary; formal compeer...Equals of a similar age bracket.
• Age Theory - The genetic theory of aging believes that the genes we inherit are the most important factor in determining how long we will live. While there is some evidence for this theory, it ignores our behaviors and exposures throughout life.
• Aged by culture - Being aged by what the culture around one dictates.
• Age-graded dissatisfaction - Grading one's satisfaction by comparison between earlier and later ages.
• Age-graded narrative - a narrative based on or graded by age
• Ageist - discrimination on the basis of age, especially against older people.
• Ageless - 1. Seeming never to grow old. 2. Existing forever; eternal.
• Age-related Grief - Grief as that occurs in relation to one's age. The grief over lost youth.
• Aggrandize - increase the power, status, or wealth of : an action intended to aggrandize the Frankish dynasty; enhance the reputation of (someone) beyond what is justified by the facts : he hoped to aggrandize himself by dying a hero's death.
• Agnostic Funeral - funeral for a person who neither believes nor disbelieves in a deity, agnostics claim neither faith or disbelief
• Antiageist agenda - More employers are showing signs of ultra-political correctness as they respond to anti-ageism legislation. Even guidance from Acas, the Government's arbitration agency, points out that a director or playwright could run into trouble if the cast of a play was entirely young or old – to avoid the theatre of the absurd there is an exemption for the artistic temperament....this is a common term that indeed means to avoid discrimination of any age bracket (young or old). It works to promote equality across all age brackets.
• Aqua pyre - (see hydro cremation)
• Arrangement conference - the meeting with the funeral director in which you make plans for your loved one's funeral or memorial and the preferred method of disposition
• Art Coffin - craft coffin used in memorial art therapy to write special messages and decorate with special artwork in tribute of the deceased (see photos of art coffins)
• au courant - French, literally, in the current, fully informed : up-to-date <trying to stay au courant>

~B~

• Basket Casket - a casket that is fabricated of a natural woven material, often wicker, willow, bamboo, banana leaf, and seagrass (see photos of woven caskets )
• Bereavement Coordinator - coordinates the grief counseling to the families of the recently deceased
• Blended Family - generally consists of one female and one male and the children from their prior relationships; may also include children from their present relationship
• Biologism - use of biological principles in explaining human behavior, especially social behavior. A theory or doctrine based on a biological viewpoint.
• Burial - also referred to as interment; generally refers to earth burial at a cemetery or a natural woodland burial
• Burial Basket - (see basket casket)
• Burial Doll - effigy created in likeness of missing person for the purpose burial rites in memorial art therapy; promotes closure for families of missing persons
• Burial Garments - clothing selected and worn by the deceased for burial or cremation
• Burial Pod - biodegradable papier mâché burial container
• Burial Shroud - cloth wrapping placed around a decedant in preparation for burial (see photos of burial shrouds )
• Burial Swaddling - cloth used to wrap infants that have died in preparation of burial
• Burial Tree - tree planted in memory of the deceased, may or may not be placed at the gravesite

~C~

• Cadaver - a dead human body used for the purposes of medical research, study, anatomical dissection and transplantation
• Canonical - the canonical method recognized, authoritative, authorized, accepted, sanctioned, approved, established, orthodox. antonym unorthodox.
• Casketry - selection of burial coffins and caskets found in a funeral home's merchandise display room
• Celebrant - a person who officiates a personalized and meaningful memorial or funeral ceremony
• Cemetery Arts - monuments or art installations present at cemeteries for the purpose of memorialization
• Chevrah Kadisha - In the Jewish faith, a group of men or women from the synagogue who are assigned to care for the dead
• Columbarium - an standing structure with spaces (niches) where cremated remains are secured
• Committal service - a brief graveside service held before the casket or urn is placed into the ground or columbarium
• Contemporaneity - existing or occurring in the same period of time
• Corpse - a dead human body
• Corpse Dog - (also incorrectly referred to as Cadaver Dog) dogs used for locating the dead in disasters
• Coroner - an official in a community responsible for researching unexplicable, violent and or sudden deaths
• Cortege - a procession of vehicles driving from the funeral service to the place of disposition (usually the cemetery)
• Cremation - the Greek originated method of reducing the dead body small bone fragments by fire (flame based) or present day, by treated water (alkaline hydrolysis) (see hydro cremation)
• Crone movement - A movement that takes its name from the archetype of the older woman, as a symbol of wisdom and strength (also known as crone energy)
• Crypt - an above ground burial site inside a mausoleum

~D~

• Death Doula - one (can be either a male or female) who aids the dying through the final dying process and often prepares the body for viewing once death has occurred.
• Death Midwife - female version of death doula (see death doula)
• Death with Dignity - in Oregon, a 1994 Measure established the U.S. state of Oregon's Death with Dignity Act (ORS 127.800-995[1]), which legalizes physician-assisted dying with certain restrictions. Passage of this initiative made Oregon the first U.S. state and one of the first jurisdictions in the world to permit some terminally ill patients to determine the time of their own death. (Visit the Death with Dignity national center for more info)
• Declining body - A body that is in the process of deterioration; an identity as being considered a person in decline much like we consider those in chemo.
• Decompiculture - refers to how decomposing organisms could be grown or cultured for a variety of uses, for instance to decompose waste; in human burial, refers to cultivating fungi for the purpose of facilitating corpse decomposition.
• Denouement - a finale, a final close or finish.
• Direct cremation - immediate cremation without a funeral or memorial service
• Direct burial - immediate burial without a funeral service
• Discursive - of or relating to discourse: a mode of organizing knowledge, ideas, or experience that is rooted in language and its concrete contexts (as history or institutions
• Disaster Mortuary - an emergency response mortuary team deployed to a mass fatality disaster for the purpose of preserving the dead for identification (visit DMORT - Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team)
• Disaster Veterinary - an emergency reponse veterinary team deployed to disasters for the purpose of collecting, treating and caring for displaced animals (Visit the AVMA Disaster Veterinary page)
• Doll Urn - anthropomorphic doll used to hold cremated remains, often in the form of a soft stuffed animal or bear
• DNR - Stands for Do Not Resuscitate. It is a request to not have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if your heart stops and/or if you stop breathing

~E~

• Embalming - (see hygienic treatment)
• Entombment - placement of a casket in an above-ground structure (mausoleum)
• Enzyme Hydrolysis - (see hydro cremation)
• Epigones - follower, disciple ; also : an inferior imitator
• Epistemological - the theory of knowledge, esp. with regard to its methods, validity, and scope
• eschatological - the part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind
• eschews - he firmly eschewed political involvement abstain from, refrain from, give up, forgo, shun, renounce, steer clear of, have nothing to do with, fight shy of; relinquish, reject, disavow, abandon, spurn, wash one's hands of, drop; informal kick, pack in; formal forswear, abjure.
• Essentialism - In philosophy, essentialism is the view that, for any specific kind of entity, there is a set of characteristics or properties all of which any entity of that kind must possess.
• Ethical Will - a document written by the dying to pass along ethical values, life lessons and wishes for the surviving loved ones; a practice that originated with the Lakota Sioux and the Hebrews (read more on ethical wills )

~F~

• Family-Led Funeral - (see home funeral)
• Fantasy Coffin - Decorative coffins made in bright colors and bold shapes that are themed in celebration of the way the deceased lived; an idea that originated in Ghana
• Final Disposition - the performance of final services pertaining to the dead (Next of Kin decides this for each person)
• Fluctuating capacity - when the patient sometimes has the mental ability to make his or her own decisions and sometimes does not have the ability
• Funeral - a ceremony honoring the life of a person who has died where the body is present for the service (not to be confused with memorial which takes place without the body present)
• Funeral Fundraiser - a fundraising effort used to aid a family in the funeral expenses of a loved one, often in the cases of unexpected deaths
• Funeralogy - the study of funeral rituals, ceremonies, culture and customs
• Final Footprint - the statistical measure of one's final ecological impact over the life cycle

~G~

• G-Burial - abbreviated version of green burial
• Gerontophobia - the fear of growing old, or a hatred or fear of the elderly.
• Green Burial - natural earth burial without the use of chemicals, graveliners or crypts, usually in biodegradable containers (read more on green burial)
• Ghost Bicycle - a bike painted entirely white (including tires), that is affixed where a fatal bike accident occurred (usually in an urban setting or on a roadside), in memoriam of one who has died; the practice of which originated from the United Kingdom (see photo of ghost bike )
• Grave liner - concrete slabs used instead of a vault, to support the earth load inside of a grave (not used in green burial) (see how a vault supports the earth load)
• Grief Facilitator - (see bereavement coordinator)
• Guardian - A court-appointed person who is assigned to make decisions for an incapacitated person. This person may also be called a conservator. This person is often in charge of medical decisions and or financial decisions.

~H~

• heterogeneity - diverse, varied, varying, variegated, miscellaneous, assorted, mixed, sundry, disparate, multifarious, different, differing, motley; informal hodgepodge, mixed-bag; literary divers. antonym homogeneous...elderly lives as being diverse and varied.
• HIPPA - Health Information Portability and Accountability Act; A law that protects medical information and gives individuals the right to decide who will and will not have access to his/her own personal health information (see more info on the HIPPA act )
• Holistic End-of-Life Care - focused on continuity of care from aging well, dying, death, funeralization and after care
• Holographic Will - a will that is written entirely by hand of the person the will belongs to
• Home-Funeral - a funeral that is held in the home of the decedant; it may be with or without the assistance of a funeral director, but can alleviate the need to move the deceased to a funeral home (read about home funerals and home death care instructions) (also known as family-led funeral)
• Honorarium - the charitable fee typically paid to a clergy person or celebrant for officiating the funeral or memorial ceremony, or for the musicians or soloists for their performances in the ceremony
• Humanist - Humanism is a broad category of ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appealing to universal human qualities, particularly rationality, without resorting to the supernatural or alleged divine authority from religious texts.
• Hydro Cremation - the environmentally friendly version of cremation that reduces human remains to small bone fragments through the process of hydrolysis, using water, heat, agitation and an alkali solution (also known as bio-cremation and resomation) (read more about hydro cremation)
• Hygienic Treatment - the intravascular cleansing of the circulatory system of the dead human body for the purposes of slowing putrefaction and for disease control during extended viewing or travels (also known as embalming)

~I~

• Iatrogenic illness - induced inadvertently by a physician or surgeon or by medical treatment or diagnostic procedures <an iatrogenic rash>
• Identity-stripping - All persons flying on commercial airlines would be identity-stripped by a database that would include their names, phone numbers, addresses, dates of birth, their traveling companions and itineraries, how tickets were paid, rental car information and destinations, names and addresses of businesses the passenger has used, all information about their current and past car ownership and even newspaper subscriptions. Gullette's use is different. Gullette's idea is a more personal loss/sense of identity, whereas the above definition refers to an exposure of one's personal information.
• ignominious - deserving or causing public disgrace or shame
• ineluctable - unable to be resisted or avoided; inescapable : the ineluctable facts of history.
• Insouciance - nonchalance, unconcern, indifference, heedlessness, calm, equanimity, composure, ease, airiness; informal cool. antonym anxiety
• insuperable - incapable of being surmounted, overcome, passed over, or solved <insuperable difficulties>
• Interlocutors - People taking part in a conversation.

~J~

• Jagged episodes - These moments in time Gullette refers to are uneven or irregular and sharply acknowledged due to their rarity.
• Jinazah - a funeral or funeral prayer for Muslims (in Islam)

~K~

• Kin - one's relatives, referring to blood relationship. (Next of kin has right of final disposition for one who has died.)

~L~

• Life course - The concept of life course implies age-differentiated social phenomena distinct from uniform life-cycle stages and the life span.
• Life cycle - The biological cycles of life from conception to death.
• Life Story Review - the review and collection of one's biographical history and important life events, often in a hospice setting, but sometimes collected during pre-need funeral arrangements (how to collect a life review)
• Living Will - a written document that indicates what types of medical treatments are desired. This can be specific or general. It can also be called an Advance Directive.
• Living Funeral - a pre-death celebration of life to honor one who is nearing the end of life; the tone is often celebratory, but can be serious in nature as well (read more about living funerals and activities )
• Looksism - discrimination on the basis of looks, or expectations based on one's looks; Significantly more judgmental towards how well/poorly the looks standards are met.

~M~

• Mausoleum - a small building in a cemetery that where a body is interred above ground
• Memorial - a service or ceremony honoring the life of a person who has died, the body is not present for this service. Cremated remains (ashes) may or may not be present. (Not to be confused with funeral)
• Memorial Adventure - the process of scattering a loved one's ashes on pilgrimage to location(s) of special significance (read more about scattering ash stories and travels)
• Memorial Art Therapy - the therapeutic use of art to address and heal grief; artwork made in memory of one who has died; can include works that incorporate a loved ones cremated ashes, artifacts or hair (cremation jewelry with ashes incorporate into the art piece)
• Memorial Ecosystem - the biological community of interacting organisims within the cemetery environment
• Memorial Fundraiser - (see funeral fundraiser)
• Memorial Telecast - the transmission of funeral/memorial services over the internet or television
• Memorialogy - the study of memorialization and remembrances
• Middle-ageism - Ageism directed at those in their middle years—middle ageism
• Milieu - a person's social environment
• mise-en-scene - Stemming from the theater, the French term mise en scène literally means "putting on stage." When applied to the cinema, mise-en-scène refers to everything that appears before the camera and its arrangement—sets, props, actors, costumes, and lighting
• Mortuary Arts - the science and study of preserving human remains for the purpose of viewing
• Mourning Wear - clothing that communicates one is grieving, historically this was worn for a designated period of time after a death (see photos of historic mourning clothing)

~N~

• Niche - a space in a cemetery columbarium that holds cremated remains (ashes) permanently for visitation

~O~

• Obituary - a notice placed in a newspaper that announces the death to the community, covers a briefly write up on the person's life and may or may not invites readers to attend a funeral or memorial
• Ontological - the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being.
• Out Funeral - a funeral that celebrates the lifestyle preference of the individual in addition to honoring the deceased

~P~

• Pallbearers - the people who carry the casket from the funeral ceremony to the hearse and from the hearse to the gravesite
• Playing in overtime - Playing on borrowed time; or Sports A period of playing time added after the expiration of the set time limit.
• POLST - Physicians Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatments, which is a doctor's order form that documents the patient's wishes, not only about CPR but for other end-of-life choices. (Visit Official POLST website for Oregon)
• Pneuma - the vital spirit, soul, or creative force of a person.
• Private Property Burial - burial on one's home property, the legality of which is usually determined by local ordinances (view more info on private property burial)
• Pronatalism - Natalism or pro-birth is a belief that promotes human reproduction.
• Psychocultural - of or relating to the interaction of psychological and cultural factors in the individual's personality or in the characteristics of a group <a psychocultural study of suicide>

~Q~

• Quasi -Property Theory - the legal theory pertaining to the dead human body whereby rights to the body are only associated with disposition purposes only; no other property rights to the body exist.

~R~

• Rental Coffin - a coffin that is used purely for the funeral service and not utilized for final burial or cremation. It is designed to accomodate a fitted liner which the body is laid within, the liner is then placed inside the rental coffin and removed immediately after services, usually used in cases of cremation
• Restorative Art - a term that refers to repair of the dead body to make it presentable for final viewing

~S~

• Satori - A clearness of mind or awareness; sudden enlightenment and a state of consciousness attained by intuitive illumination representing the spiritual goal of Zen Buddhism
• Seasick indecisiveness - An indecisiveness that makes one queasy
• Second Burial - when a body is exhumed after some time, then cremated and placed in a family columbarium (usually occurs in traditional Asian cultures)
• Secular Funeral - a funeral service focused on celebrating the individual's life and accomplishments; not religious or spiritual in nature
• Shot-clock - A shot clock is used in some sports to quicken the pace of the game.
• Social constructionism - Stems from epistemological position - not an explanatory theory. It is an approach to psychology (and other bodies of knowledge) which focuses on meaning and power. It focuses on meaning and power because its epistemological position dictates that meaning and power are all that we really can claim to know about. It is called ‘social constructionism’ because it aims to account for the ways in which phenomena are socially constructed.
• Sociohistorical - of, relating to, or involving social history or a combination of social and historical factors
• Solipsism - the view or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist.
• Somatic Death - activation-induced cellular death, cessation of life
• Soto voce - literally "under voice" in Italian) means to speak under one's breath.
• Sui generis - Neo-Latin expression, literally meaning of its own kind/genus or unique in its characteristics
• superannuated - superannuated computing equipment old, old-fashioned, antiquated, out of date, outmoded, broken-down, obsolete, disused, defunct.
• Syllogism - an instance of a form of reasoning in which a conclusion is drawn (whether validly or not) from two given or assumed propositions (premises), each of which shares a term with the conclusion, and shares a common or middle term not present in the conclusion. (e.g., all dogs are animals; all animals have four legs; therefore all dogs have four legs).
• Synecdoche - a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa, as in Cleveland won by six runs (meaning “Cleveland's baseball team”).

~T~

• Tachrichim - a Jewish burial shroud that is typically handsewn and made of white linen (see photo of tachrichim shroud)
• Tableaux - a domestic tableau around the fireplace scene, arrangement, grouping, group; picture, spectacle, image, vignette.
• Thanatology - the study of death
• Transpersonal - Stages of psychological growth, or stages of consciousness, that move beyond the rational and precede the mystical.

~U~

• Urn - A container used to hold the ashes (cremated remains) of one who has been cremated. Urns are presently offered in a variety of shapes, sizes and materials. (see photos of ceramic handthrown pottery urns)

~V~

• Valorization - 1. To establish and maintain the price of (a commodity) by governmental action. 2. To give or assign a value to.
• Vault - a concrete or metal container into which the casket is placed in a traditional cemetery burial (green burial grounds require that vaults not be used) (learn how a vault is used to support the earth load)
• Village Memorial - When family, friends and neighbors (community) comes together to celebrate a life, and or participate in end of life care.
• vis-à-vis - apropos to, toward, relating to, compared with, with respect to
• Visitation - a scheduled time for family and friends to view the person who died (also referred to as a viewing)

~W~

• Whipsaw - To defeat or best in two ways at once.
• Wise independence - Being smart about one's independence. Being realistic about when and what should be delegated and doing so.

~X~

~Y~

• Yahrzeit - anniversary of the death (in the Jewish faith)
• Yizkor - a memorial service that is recited 4 times a year (in the Jewish faith)

~Z~

• Zenetery - a cemetery that is styled in the tradition of the Japanese Zen Garden
• Ziegler Case - a metal container that is gasket-sealed and used for shipping human remains either inside of a casket, or on its own