obituary
n. countablen. a short article in a newspaper that tells people about someone who has recently died. It usually includes a summary of their life and achievements.
n. a published notice of a death, typically accompanied by a brief biographical account of the deceased person's life and career.
I read his obituary in the local paper this morning.
The famous actress's obituary highlighted her early work in theatre before she became a Hollywood star.
Writing a meaningful obituary requires a delicate balance between factual reporting of a person's life and a respectful tribute to their lasting legacy within the community.
PIE word *h₁epi Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin obituārius (“obituary”) + English -ary (suffix denoting something relating to another thing or used in a place). Obituārius is derived from Latin obitus (“act of approaching or going toward, an approach; act of going down, setting; of the sun: sunset; death; destruction, downfall, ruin”) + -ārius (suffix forming adjectives and agent nouns); while obitus is a noun use of the perfect passive participle of obeō (“to go to meet, go towards; (figurative) to die, pass away, perish; (astronomy) to set”), from ob- (prefix meaning ‘toward’) + eō (“to go, move”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”).
Often takes the preposition 'for' or 'of' when identifying the subject.