The following glossary of terms will be helpful to
anyone planning the construction of a memorial, as well as for memorialists, genealogists,
and historians who may desire to interpret symbols used in cemeteries. The original source
is a famous resource to monument builders, McNeel, The Greatest Name in Stonecraft.
Abacus: The square upper plate upon the capital of a column, supporting the architecture.
Abutment: The solid part of a pier or wall that supports an inch and receives its thrust
or lateral pressure.
Acanthus: Heavenly Gardens.
Acorn: Latent greatness or strength.
Aere Perennius: More enduring than bronze.
Alpha and Omega: First and last letters of the Greek alphabet symbolizing the beginning
and the end, respectively.
Altar: The Eucharist; Worship; Presence of God.
Anchor: Hope; Our Lord, the Anchor of the Soul.
Angel: God’s messenger; Annunciation; Nativity.
Apple. Fall of man; Sin; Eve; Discord; the Virgin.
Arch: Triumph; Broken; Untimely death; Chancel arch; Passing from this world into eternal
life.
Architrave: (A) the lowest part of the entablature or that part which rests immediately on
the column. (B) a molding above a door or window.
Arivederci: “Until we meet again”, Adieu.
Ark: The Deluge Noah; Salvation; Our Lord; The Church; Holy Baptism; Of the covenant; O.
T. worship; the presence of God; The Savior; The Virgin.
Arrows: Martyrdom; Pestilence; Persecution; Remorse; The fiery darts of the wicked; With
spear and stones, or square and spear, or a girdle and stones, S. Thomas; Two arrows in a
heart, St. Augustine of Hippo.
Banner: Triumph; Victory.
Bas Relief: Sculpture in low relief.
Bay Leaves: Death and Mourning.
Bead: A small round mould, often cut like pearls on a string.
Beads: Prayer.
Bead and Reel: A small round molding decorated with an alternating bead and two small
discs.
Bell: an Invitation, a call to worship.
Birds: Human souls.
Bishop’s Staff: Pastoral authority.
Book: The Bible; Divine authorship.
Boss: A protuberant ornament, such as a stud or a knob.
Broken Column: a hackneyed symbol of death.
Butterfly: The Resurrection.
Buttress: a projecting mass of masonry, used for resisting the thrust of an arch; or can
be used for ornament.
Candle: Jesus Christ, the Light of the World; the symbol of devotion.
Candlesticks: Two Candlesticks: the two-fold nature of our Lord. Six candlesticks: the six
days of creation or the six hours spent by our Lord on the cross. Three-branched
candlesticks: the Holy Trinity. Five-branched candlestick: the Five Wounds of our Lord.
Seven-branched candlestick: the Church, the Seven Gifts of the Holy Sprit, or the Seven
Sacraments.
Candles: Christ, the Lord of the World.
Capital: The uppermost part of a column, pilaster or pillar.
Caryatid: A draped female figure supporting an entablature, used in place of a column or
pilaster. Male figures used in same way are known as “Atlantes.”
Catacomb: ancient subterranean burial places consisting of passages with side recesses for
tombs, especially those near Rome or Apian Way; thought to have been a place of refuge and
also interment of early Christmas.
Cenotaph: an empty tomb or monument erected in honor of some person who is buried
elsewhere.
Chalice: a cup of silver, lined with gold, used in the celebration of the Blessed
Sacrament.
Chi Rho: (XP) An abbreviation of XPICTOC, translating into “Christ.”
Cinerary: Used for ashes, especially those of the deceased who have been cremated.
Circle: Eternity; Completeness; Perfection.
Colonnade: A series of columns placed at regular intervals. When in front of a building
this structure is referred to as a “portico”; when surrounding or carried about
three sides of a building, it is called a “peristyle.”
Columbarium: A structure of vaults lined with recesses for cinerary urns; also, in plural,
the niches in such a structure.
Cornucopia: The bounty of God. Thanksgiving, Liberality, Asher.
Creator’s Star: A six-pointed star; The Creation.
Crown: Rank; Sovereignty; Royalty.
Crown of Thorns: The Suffering Savior; known as a passion symbol.
Cross: Christ and his atoning death; Christ’s redemption of fallen humanity.
Crucifix: The Suffering Savior; The Passion; The Atonement.
Daisy: The Christ child’s innocence; Youth; the Sum of Righteousness; Innocence.
Dentil: One of a series of small square blocks or projections on cornices, in an
ornamental band. Used particularly in the Ionic, Corinthian and Composite orders.
Door: Salvation. Our Lord, the Door to the Kingdom.
Flaming Sword: Expulsion from Eden; With shield; St. Michael.
Fleur-De-Lys: The Holy Trinity.
Flute: A chancel of curved section, often applied to one of a vertical series of such
channels used to decorate columns and pilasters.
Frieze: (A) The part of the entablature between the architrave and cornice. It is a flat
surface either uniform or broken by triglyphs and is often enriched by sculpture. (B) Any
sculptured or richly ornamented band in a building.
Fruit and Vine: Symbolic of the personality of Jesus Christ.
Glastonbury Thorn: Symbol of our Lord’s Nativity.
Grapes: The Eucharist on a Pole; the Promised Land. Twelve bunches of the Apostles.
Clusters of grapes on a running vine; Our Lord and His followers; the Church Unity.
Hand: Issuing from the clouds; The Father.
Harp: Joy and Music; Worship in Heaven.
Heart: Christian charity. Surmounted by a flame: Intense zeal or devotion.
Hicjacet: Here lies; inscribed on tombstones, hence a tombstone or its inscription.
Hicsepultus: Here (is) buried.
Holly: Christmas.
Honeysuckle: An ornament consisting of foliated forms arranged in a radiating cluster, but
flat, as in a relief sculpture; also known as Anthemion and Palmette.
IHS: A symbol or monogram representing the Greek contraction of Jesus. In ignorance of its
origin, this is regarded as an abbreviation of the Latin phrase meaning, “Jesus,
Savior of men” or “In Hoc Signa Vinces.”
In Hoc Signo Spes Mea: In this sign is my hope.
In Hoc Signo Vinces: By this sign thou wilt conquer.
In Memoriam: In Memory of.
Inri: Jesus Nazarenus Rex ludacrum, Latin for “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the
Jews”; the title over the Cross.
Ivy: Faithfulness; Memory.
Jasmine: Divine Hope.
Jonquil: Vanity and Affection.
Lamb: Our Lord.
Lamp: Word of God. Good works and Truth; Divine inspiration; Enlightenment.
Latin Cross: Finished Redemption; Christ and his Atoning death.
Laurel: Reward; Victory; Good report.
Lightning: Destruction; Vengeance of God.
Lily: Purity; Resurrection; Innocence.
Lily of the Valley: Humility.
Lintel: A horizontal member spanning an opening.
Lotus: An ornament frequently used in Egyptian architecture, generally asserted to have
been suggested by the Egyptian water lily.
Lyre: Music.
Maltese Cross: The eight points symbolic of the Eight Beatitudes.
Morning Glory: Bonds of love and affection.
Miter: A joint formed by two beveled ends or edges.
Motif: the theme; the central or dominant feature.
Narcissus: Regard; Grace.
Niche: A hollow or recess, generally within the thickness of a wall for a statue, bust or
other ornament.
Nimbus: A circle or disk of rays of light around the heads of divinities, saints et
cetera, also used around a cross.
Oak: Strength; Eternity; Force, Virtue and Forgiveness.
Obelisk: An upright four-sided pillar, gradually tapering as it rises and is cut off at
the top in the form of a pyramid.
Ogee: A moulding consisting of two members, the once concave, the other convex. It has a
profile in the form of the letter S.
Old Testament Cross: the Tau Cross.
Olive: Peace.
Omega: The first letter of the Greek alphabet, hence, “the last.”
Omnia Ad Del Gloriam: All things to the Glory of God.
Ox: Patience. Strength; Service; Endurance and Sacrifice. Winged and nimbed ox: St. Luke.
Palm: Victory; Spiritual victory; Martyrdom; Victory over sin and death.
Palmette: the conventional ornament or anthemion resembling the palm leaf used in Grecian
decoration.
Pansy: Humility; The Trinity.
Passion Vine: Symbolic of the crowning event in the life of Our Lord; Descending from a
fancied resemblance to the parts of the flowers to the instruments of Christ’s
crucification.
Pastoral Staff: Authority.
Pax Vobiscum: Peace be with you.
Pax Aeterna: Peace eternal.
Pier: (A) Pillars, posts or a mass of solid stonework supporting an arch. (B) A piece of
wall between two openings.
Pierced Heart, with a lance or spear: A Passion symbol.
Pilaster: An upright architectural member, rectangular in plan, structurally a pier, but
architecturally treated as a column and projecting from the wall only one third or less of
its width. The bases, capitals and entablatures of pilasters have the same parts as those
of columns.
Pillar: A pier or column intended to support an arch, roof, statue, et cetera; a firm
upright, insulated support for a superstructure. Note: a general term for a stay or
support, while column denotes a pillar of particular order or type.
Plenty, Horn of: the Lord’s bounty; Thanksgiving.
Plinth: A square block serving as a base for a statue, vase, et cetera, or the lowest part
of the base of a column.
Pomegranate: The Resurrection of our Lord; Immortality, Royalty, Fertility; the Church.
Poppy: Symbolic of sleep; Rest.
Portico: A covered space enclosed by columns at the entrance of a building.
Pulpit: Testimony; Word of God; Instruction in religion.
Pylon: A structure forming an entrance to an Egyptian temple. It consists of a gateway, on
each side of which stands a tower in the shape of a truncated pyramid, covered with
sculpture. The tower itself was sometimes called a pylon.
Pyramid: A solid body on a triangular or polygonal base, with triangular faces meeting at
a point. Used for tombs in ancient Egypt.
Quatrefoil: the Four Evangelists; the Four Gospels; the Four Greek Doctors; the Four Latin
Doctors.
Quill, with scroll or inkhorn: Divine authorship.
Ram: Sacrifice.
Replica: A copy of an original picture at the hand of the same master; a reproduction,
facsimile, or very close copy of an original work of art.
Requiescat in Pace: May he (she) rest in peace.
Rock: Firmness; Stability; Conservatism; Our Lord, the Rock of Salvation.
Rod: Official power; also a Passion symbol.
Rope: a Passion symbol; Judas’ death.
Rosary: Prayer.
Rose: Love, Our Lord; the Nativity.
Rosette: An ornament in the form of a conventional rose or other design of circular form
used as a decoration.
Running Dog: A molding ornamented with a wavelike ornament, spiral.
Sarcophagus: (A) A species of limestone used by Greeks for making coffins. The name
originates from the fact that it consumed the flesh of the bodies deposited within the
stone.
Scipio: The name of two Roman generals who lived several hundred years before Christ
(235-184 B.C. and 185-129 B.C.) and whose sarcophagi were found in a tomb near the Apian
Way.
Scythe: Death.
Sepulcher: A place in which a human body is interred or a place destined for that purpose.
Serif: One of the fine lines of a letter, especially, one of the fine cross strokes at the
top or bottom.
Seven Golden Candlesticks: the Seven Churches of Asia Minor.
Seven-Branched Candlestick: Old Testament Worship; the Synagogue; the Church; the Seven
Churches of Asia Minor; Seven Angels of the Apocalypse; the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost;
the Seven Sacraments.
Shamrock: National flower of Ireland; St. Patrick.
Sheak: Plenty; Gifts of God.
Sheep: Christians; Twelve sheep; the Twelve Apostles; Sheep and goats: the redeemed and
the lost.
Shells: Symbolic of Christianity.
Ship: The Church.
Shrine: An Altar or a sacred place.
Sickle: Death; End of the world.
Star: Symbolic of Christ and of life.
Sun Disk: A winged disk; the symbol of the sun god, Ra. On memorials, it is symbolic of
the power that can recreate and means “God, Lord over all and Creator.”
Sunflower: Glory; the soul turning to Christ.
Swastika Cross: A Greek cross, with the arms bent at right angles all in the same
direction, each prolonged to the height of the parallel arm of the cross.
Sword: Power; Justice; Authority; Martyrdom.
Table Tomb: a slab resting on four pillars.
Tau Cross: Named because it is in the shape of the Greek letter Tau, which is the same
shape as the English letter T.
Tetrastyle: A building with four columns in front.
Torch: Upright: symbol of eternal life. Inverted: symbol of death.
Tree: Faith; With serpent coiled around it: Fall of Man.
Trefoil: Alone or with various combinations of the circle and triangle: The Holy Trinity.
Triglyph: An ornament on the frieze of the Doric order, repeated at regular intervals.
Each triglyph consists of a rectangular tablet slightly projected and is divided nearly to
its top by two parallel and perpendicular gutters or channels called “glyphs,”
into three parts or spaces. A half channel is also cut upon each of the perpendicular
edges of the tablet; Triglyphs alternate with metopes.
Tripod: Any utensil, vessel or object supported on three legs.
Trumpet: Call to worship; Call of the Holy Ghost; the Day of Judgment; The Resurrection.
Tulip: Ancient affection.
Urn: Death.
Violet: Humility, Modesty, Sweetness, Loyalty.
Volute: A kind of spiral scroll-shaped ornament used on the Ionic, the Corinthian and the
Composite capitals, of which it is a principal ornament.
The following glossary of terms will be helpful to
anyone planning the construction of a memorial, as well as for memorialists, genealogists,
and historians who may desire to interpret symbols used in cemeteries. The original source
is a famous resource to monument builders, McNeel, The Greatest Name in Stonecraft.