Why is a wake before a funeral called a wake?

Answer 1

the original meaning of 'wake' was: 'a long period when people do not sleep'.

at a wake the mourners stay up all night as a sign of respect to the dead person.

and also because it is difficult to drink so much while you are having a nap.

Answer 2

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Why is a wake before a funeral called a wake?

Answer 3

It comes from the old custom, predominantly in Ireland, of keeping an all night vigil over the coffin of a deceased family member the night before the burial. Eventually the term became misused as meaning a celebration after a funeral rather than staying awake to keep watch before it. In old days, and i am old enough to remember them, the body would sometimes be brought home, dressed in his or hers best clothes with the coffin stood up in a corner of the room, (which had to be kept unheated), with the lid left off so that friends could visit and pay their last respects, Often a bottle of whiskey was available to fortify anyone who found the sight particularly disturbing. Many did, hence the custom of drinking whiskey at the 'wake'.

Answer 4

What Is A Wake

Answer 5

In the past, after some plague or other, people would show signs of death, e.g. not breathing and no heartbeat; this was the symptoms of the plague, which very closely simulated death. But after two or three days, the victims reanimated, their heartbeat restarted and their breathing increased. The wake was introduced for families to sit with the deceased for three days in case it was the plague returned, and they were not actually dead. Further measures were introduced, they used to bury some people with bells above ground attached to a string tied to the corpse so that if the person was buried alive and woke up they could signal to people that they weren t dead. My father wanted buried with a hollow tube from above ground into his coffin, so that we could buy him a Guinness every time we went to the pub, and pour it down to him.

Answer 6

I always think of the waves behind a moving boat when I think of the word "wake". Kinda like the person was a boat and now that they have passed by us we are in the "wake" of their life.

Answer 7

The version I've always heard is that "back in the day" before we understood near-death conditions like comas they would hold the vigil to see if the person "woke" from death before they off and burried them. Same as they used to burry some people with bells above ground attached to a string tied to the corpse. The theory was if the person was burried alive and woke up they could signal to people that they weren't dead. Assuming someone was around to hear.

Answer 8

I have always assumed a Catholic term for the visitation was the "Wake" where they had the rosary. Otherwise, protestants call it a visitation. Am I correct?

Answer 9

Wake refers to the "watch" over the body to see if there would be an awakening...

Answer 10

it could be named after the wake put out out by a boat moving through the water.