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.
2. A coffin or chest-shaped tomb of the kind
of stone described above; hence, any stone coffin.
3. A stone shaped like a sarcophagus and
placed by a grave as a memorial.