: one whose business is to prepare the dead for burial and to arrange and manage funerals
3
: an Englishman taking over forfeited lands in Ireland in the 16th and 17th centuries
Did you know?
You may wonder how the word undertaker made the transition from "one who undertakes" to "one who makes a living in the funeral business." The latter meaning descends from the use of the word to mean "one who takes on business responsibilities." In the 18th century, a funeral-undertaker was someone who undertook, or managed, a funeral business. There were many undertakers in those days, undertaking all sorts of businesses, but as time went on undertaker became specifically identified with the profession of arranging burial. Today, funeral director is more commonly used, but undertaker still appears.
the undertaker wore black clothes and a solemn expression
Recent Examples on the WebMaeleb kill the doppelgangers, then sneak onto the undertaker's truck, and infiltrate the underground hub. Andrew Walsh, EW.com, 11 July 2022 Ultimate Girls Trip Ex-Wives Club was made even more so by the cheery presence of everyone's favorite Southern belle cum attorney cum undertaker. Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 21 July 2022 But my grandfather, C. Sylvester Whitaker, Sr., migrated north to Pittsburgh and became an undertaker. Mark Whitaker, CBS News, 19 June 2022 The cemetery’s chief undertaker, Ashraf Zaher, 48, paused to survey the funeral, another job done.New York Times, 24 Apr. 2022 So is Cedric Young, here playing the undertaker West, a fastidious figure who profits from the death of Black men. Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 22 May 2022 Dowd stars as a secretive undertaker forced to take in two orphans. Brent Lang, Variety, 6 May 2022 The life of an undertaker might seem radically different from that of a writer, but there are some meaningful similarities: Both jobs require a sensitivity to emotional pain, a sense of duty to attend to grief, and a deft way with words. Thomas Lynch, The Atlantic, 24 Apr. 2022 Korean cast includes Yoo Hae-jin (the undertaker), Kim Ok-vin (White Marten), and Park Jeong-min (the swordsman). Todd Spangler, Variety, 17 Feb. 2022 See More