Wednesday, November 9, 2011

cortege



cortege [kɔrˈtɛʒ] n.

1.) A train of attendants, as of a distinguished person; a retinue.
2.) A ceremonial procession.
3.) A funeral procession.

Etymology: French cortège, from Old Italian corteggio, from corteggiare, to pay honor, from corte, court, from Latin cohors, cohort-, throng.

"Thebes, city of death, one long cortege
and the suffering rises
wails for mercy rise
and the wild hymn for the Healer blazes out
clashing with our sobs our cries of mourning—
O golden daughter of god, send rescue
radiant as the kindness in your eyes!"
(Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Robert Fagles (trans.), 1977)

(Cortege, Leonor Fini, 1960)
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Anyone want to be in my cortege?

12 comments:

D4 said...

Totally usable. Memorable too, I like.

Crisalys said...

Interesting enough, the spanish word "cortejo" has the same italian origin as cortege but has a different meaning; closer to "court" as in "seeking attention from".

AllenTesch said...

Wherever I go the bitches be following me in my cortege.

Anonymous said...

Just learned something.

Jenny Woolf said...

I always associate the word with funerals, so you will be glad to know I would not like to be in yours, thanks. It always bothers me to see it without the grave accent but although all these funny signs are available on my keyboard, I can never be bothered to find out which keys to hit. I usually just cut and paste a letter with the appropriate accent, cedilla, slashed O or whatever.

MRanthrope said...

that's my coworkers and I as we gather at our mandatory monthly meetings, a cortege.

Unknown said...

They use this word frequently in New Orleans

Jules said...

if you need me - speak to my cortege.

G said...

...just rolling with my cortege

themajessty said...

I definitely wouldn't mind being part of your funeral procession.

Mai Yang said...

nice word. didn't sound so sad..

DEZMOND said...

hey, gorgeous, where did you go missing lately?

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