-sarcophagus-

n.; pl. L. Sarcophagi E. Sarcophaguses [ L., fr. Gr. sarkofa`gos, properly, eating flesh; sa`rx, sa`rkos, flesh + fagei^n to eat. Cf. Sarcasm. ] 1. A species of limestone used among the Greeks for making coffins, which was so called because it consumed within a few weeks the flesh of bodies deposited in it. It is otherwise called lapis Assius, or Assian stone, and is said to have been found at Assos, a city of Lycia. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A coffin or chest-shaped tomb of the kind of stone described above; hence, any stone coffin. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A stone shaped like a sarcophagus and placed by a grave as a memorial. [ 1913 Webster ]