from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Sarcophagus \Sar*coph"a*gus\, 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]