undertaker

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʌndə(ɹ)ˌteɪkə(ɹ)/, /ˌʌndə(ɹ)ˈteɪkə(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Audio (Southern England)

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Noun

undertaker (plural undertakers)

1. A funeral director; someone whose business is to manage funerals, burials and cremations.

   Synonyms: (US) mortician, (slang) cold cook

2. (historical) A person receiving land in Ireland during the Elizabethan era, so named because they gave an undertaking to abide by several conditions regarding marriage, to be loyal to the crown, and to use English as their spoken language.

   In 1588, Edmund Spenser became an undertaker in the first Elizabethan plantation, receiving the forfeited Irish estate of Kilcolman Castle.

3. (historical) A contractor for the royal revenue in England, one of those who undertook to manage the House of Commons for the king in the Addled Parliament of 1614.
4. (rare) One who undertakes or commits to doing something.
   • 1991, Parliament of the United Kingdom, “Part II, Chapter I, section 6(5)”, in Water Industry Act 1991‎^[1], page 8:

     A company shall not be appointed to be a water undertaker unless it is a limited company or a statutory water company and shall not be appointed to be a sewerage undertaker unless it is a limited company.

   • 2001, Technology, Humans, and Society: Toward a Sustainable World:

     The undertaker of the enterprise is usually known today by the French term entrepreneur because we have surrendered the English word to the undertakers of funerals.

Derived terms

• undertakerish
• undertakerly
• undertaker's

Related terms

• undertake
• undertaking

Translations

funeral director

• Afrikaans: begrafnisondernemer
• Bengali: মুর্দা ফরাশ (murda fôraś)
• Bulgarian: погребален агент m (pogrebalen agent)
• Catalan: director de pompes fúnebres m, directora de pompes fúnebres f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (no exact term exists) 承辦殯葬者／承办殡葬者 (chéngbàn bìnzàng zhě)

• Czech: pohřebník m, funebrák (cs) m (expr.)
• Danish: bedemand (da) c
• Dutch: begrafenisondernemer (nl)
• Finnish: hautausurakoitsija (fi)
• French: croque-mort (fr) m or f, directeur de funérailles m, directrice de funérailles f, thanatologue (fr) m or f
• Galician: director de funeraria
• German: Bestatter (de) m, Bestatterin (de) f, Leichenbestatter (de) m, Leichenbestatterin (de) f, Beerdigungsunternehmer m,, Beerdigungsunternehmerin f
• Greek: εργολάβος κηδειών m or f (ergolávos kideión)

  Ancient: ἐνταφιαστής m (entaphiastḗs)

• Hungarian: temetkezési vállakozó
• Ido: funeristo (io), sepultisto (io)
• Irish: adhlacóir m
• Italian: impresario di pompe funebri
• Japanese: 葬儀屋 (そうぎや, sōgiya)
• Korean: 장의사 (jang'uisa)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: gorrker, binaxker (ku), definker

• Latin: vespillō m, libitinarius m, pollinctor m
• Macedonian: погребник m (pogrebnik)
• Maori: kaiwhakarite uhunga
• Norman: entrépranneux m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: begravelsesagent (no) m

• Old English: byrgend m, byrgere m
• Portuguese: agente funerário m
• Romanian: antreprenor de pompe funebre m, cioclu (ro) m
• Russian: дире́ктор похоро́нного бюро́ m (diréktor poxorónnovo bjuró), гробовщи́к (ru) m (grobovščík)
• Spanish: director de funeraria m
• Swedish: begravningsentreprenör (sv) c
• Thai: สัปเหร่อ (th) (sàp-bpà-rə̀ə)
• Volapük: (♂♀) funisepülan, (♂) funihisepülan, (♀) funijisepülan
• Welsh: trefnwr angladdau m, ymgymerwr angladdau m
• Yakut:

  Kings River Yokuts: tonoo'tcim (Kocheyali)

  Palewyami: tonocim

  Southern Valley Yokuts: tonochim (Tachi Yokuts)

one who undertakes or commits to doing something

• Bulgarian: предприемач (bg) m (predpriemač)
• French: entrepreneur (fr)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἐγχειρητής m (enkheirētḗs)

• Latin: redemptor m