Pl. epicedia, -ums. [L. epicēdīum, a. Gr. ἐπικήδειον, neut. of ἐπικήδειος pertaining to funeral rites, f. ἐπί upon + κῆδος care, esp. funeral observance.] A funeral ode.
1587. Fleming, Contn. Holinshed, III. 1375/2. In memorie of whom (but not as an epicedium, nor yet as an epitaph) these verses … may well be vsed.
1690. Temple, Ess. Heroic Virtue, Wks. 1731, I. 215. That Song or Epicedium of Regnor Ladbrog.
1706. in Phillips, Epicedium, a Funeral Song, or Copy of Verses in praise of the Dead.
1828. Carlyle, Misc. (1857), I. 163. Your occasional verses, birthday odes, epithalamiums, epicediums, by which ‘the dream of existence may be so highly sweetened and embellished.’
1838–9. Hallam, Hist. Lit., III. III. v. 276. The epicedia or funeral lamentations.
1882. Child, Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads, I. 33/1. He … whips off his ‘brother-in-law’s’ head, with this epicedium: ‘Lie there, thou head, and bleed.’
