Definition

Noun: A person who helps to carry or officially escorts the coffin at a funeral.

Usage

A pallbearer is typically a close friend, family member, or associate of the deceased, chosen to perform the honor of carrying the casket during the funeral procession from the service to the hearse or to the gravesite. The role is symbolic of support and final respect.

Examples

• He was asked to be a pallbearer at his grandfather's funeral.
• The six pallbearers carried the coffin slowly and solemnly from the church.
• It is a great honor to serve as a pallbearer.

Advanced Usage

• Honorary pallbearer: A person named to accompany the coffin as a mark of respect but who does not physically carry it. They walk alongside the active pallbearers.
  • Due to his age, the former colleague served as an honorary pallbearer.

Variants and Related Words

• Bearer (n): A person or thing that carries something. While "bearer" has many general uses (e.g., flag bearer, bearer of bad news), in a funeral context, it is synonymous with pallbearer.
  • The coffin bearers moved with dignified steps.

Synonyms

• Casket bearer
• Coffin bearer

Notes on Meaning

The word is a compound of "pall," referring to the cloth (often velvet) that covers a coffin, and "bearer," meaning one who carries. While the pall (cloth) is not always physically carried by the pallbearers, the term specifically refers to their role in carrying the coffin itself.

Noun

1. one of the mourners carrying the coffin at a funeral