the.com/urn
The final container, holding what once held a soul, now mantelpiece royalty.
means A rounded, footed vase, often with a narrow neck, used to hold the ashes of the cremated dead or simply as an ornamental vessel.
from From Latin 'urna,' a vessel for drawing water or holding ashes — itself possibly related to 'urceus,' a jug or pitcher. The word came into English through that Latin line, carrying its double life: the everyday water-jar and the solemn ash-keeper. The funereal sense leaned on the old Roman practice of cremation, where the dead were gathered into clay or stone urns and set in tombs — so a humble container became, over centuries, the dignified shape we now picture on a shelf.
- ancient roots
- Romans used them for ashes millennia ago
- biodegradable
- Some dissolve in water or grow into trees
- space option
- Cremated remains can be launched into orbit
- word twist
- Also a tea or coffee dispenser
the portland vase — roman cameo glass vessel from 1st century ce, housed in the british museum since 1810
keats grecian urn — inspired john keats' 1819 poem 'ode on a grecian urn,' a specific ancient greek kylix in the british museum
big lebowski ashes urn — fictional folgers coffee urn used in the 1998 coen brothers film as a plot device