why is a "wake" called a "wake" (services for dead people) when the person is dead?

Answer 1

Wakes are a very old tradition of the Irish/Celtic people.
Wakes were customarily held the day before a funeral or burial of the
deceased. It was actually a watch over the deceased to see if there
would be an awakening. The time during the wake was for family and
friends to come and view the body and pay their respects to the
deceased as well as the family. It was a process of cleaning and
laying out of the body for burial. Women from the town who were
experienced in this process would come and assist the house. Wakes
were held in the house of the deceased. It has only been in recent
times that the viewing or laying out of the body was held at a funeral
home.
It was not uncommon that a wake would turn rather festive and
party like during the midnight hour. Common games were "riddle me
ree" and " Priest of Parish". It seems that music and stage play
gave the family some relieve from the all night watch and helped in
the grieving process. Storiestellers were common as well.

Answer 2

In the days of yore people did not know lots of medical facts.Sometimes people would just pass out after drinking too much or something similar.
A wake consists of three to five days.
The person that they think is dead is to be taken to their home and family will have a "wake". If that person doesn't wake in the time allowed he is concidered deceased. Nothing was used to preserve the body in those times. When the person was buried a string with a bell was put into the grave with him. The string inside the coffin and the bell on a stick (or something similar) and a guard was pisted to stay with the grave for a few more days.Sometimes the bell would sound and others not. The saying "saved by the bell" originated from this.

Answer 3

This potentially came from the same belief that begat the term "dead ringer." There were times when people who were not dead, but rather had low metabolic rate from disease or other things (such as the ingestion of a portion of liver from the puffer fish) would cause a vegitative state, making the person seem dead. The person in essentially a comatose state would be thought to be "dead" and without measureable metabolic function. Thus people would wait for a period for the person to "wake" up. This correlates with the practice of people burying their dead with a string attached to a bell going from the coffin to the surface, being further attached to the dead one's hand. Thus should the person awake out of a coma or otherwise vegitative state, they could ring the surface -- and become what was then known to be a "dead ringer."

Answer 4

Wake can also mean aftermath of some kind.
1. A watch; a vigil.
2. A watch over the body of a deceased person before burial, sometimes accompanied by festivity. Also called viewing .
3. wakes (used with a sing. or pl. verb) Chiefly British
a. A parish festival held annually, often in honor of a patron saint.
b. An annual vacation.

Answer 5

I am a funeral director in Mississippi and a wake gets its name originally from the early 1900s when it was supposed to mean to "make sure that the person was "dead" before they put them in the ground". Now we don't do it for that reason. We just kind of carried the name over with us. In some states like Massachussets they call a wake "Calling Hours". Now that sounds a bit scarier than a wake.

Answer 6

There were times when alcohol was way stronger than it is now, so people would hold a wake for a certain period of time to see if they were just passed out drunk and nearly dead rather than bury them alive. They would wait for the person to "wake". The tradition is still practiced today, although it is no longer for this purpose. It is more of a last good-bye now.

Answer 7

Because everyone had to stay awake for a full day before the burial to confirm that the person was dead, just in case he "woke up". He might "wake", proving he is not dead. And freaking the hell out of everyone else.

Answer 8

It come from 'a watch held over the body of a dead person prior to burial and sometimes accompanied by festivity'.

The wake doesn't refer to the corpse, but rather to the person holding vigil. In most cases, the vigil has been left off, but the festivities remain.

Answer 9

to wake the dead

Answer 10

wake means subsequent to , like (in the wake of hurricane catrina ,americans discover they are not living in a democracy)

so wake also means after the person is dead.