Definition of: sarcophagus

(sär·kof′ə·gəs) noun plural ·gi (-jī)
1. A stone coffin or tomb; hence, a large ornamental coffin of marble or stone placed in a crypt or exposed to view.
2. A kind of limestone, used by the Greeks for coffins and said to reduce flesh to dust. [<L <Gk. sarkophagos, orig. adj., flesh-eating <sarx, sarkos flesh + phagein eat]