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lapis Assius definitions

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Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sarcophagus Sar*coph"a*gus, n.; pl. L. Sarcophagi, E. Sarcophaguses. [L., fr. Gr. sarkofa`gos, properly, eating flesh; sa`rx, sa`rkos, flesh + fagei^n to eat. Cf. Sarcasm.] 1. A species of limestone used among the Greeks for making coffins, which was so called because it consumed within a few weeks the flesh of bodies deposited in it. It is otherwise called lapis Assius, or Assian stone, and is said to have been found at Assos, a city of Lycia. --Holland. 2. A coffin or chest-shaped tomb of the kind of stone described above; hence, any stone coffin. 3. A stone shaped like a sarcophagus and placed by a grave as a memorial.