undertaker

Meaning

1. A funeral director; someone whose business is to manage funerals, burials and cremations.
2. (historical) A person receiving land in Ireland during the Elizabethan era, so named because they gave an undertaking to abide by several conditions regarding marriage, to be loyal to the crown, and to use English as their spoken language.
3. (historical) A contractor for the royal revenue in England, one of those who undertook to manage the House of Commons for the king in the Addled Parliament of 1614.
4. (rare) One who undertakes or commits to doing something.

Synonyms

mortician

funeral director

funeral undertaker

coffin maker

gravedigger

entrepreneur

undertaking

businessman

Translations

Bestatter

begrafenisondernemer

enterrador

croque-mort

entrepreneur

impresario di pompe funebri

agente funerário

Leichenbestatter

definker

Beerdigungsunternehmer

gorrker

impresario

fabricant de cercueils

binaxker

croquemort

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈʌndə(ɹ)ˌteɪkə(ɹ)/

Etymology

From undertake (verb) + -er.