Origin of 'Religion' and "Funeral'?

All that I know, is that ‘religion’ is ultimately derived from the Latin word religere, meaning to tie back. And ‘funeral’ apparently ultimately derives from the Latin word for rake. Why? Because that is where the dictionary etymologies stop for some reason.

I also recall reading somewhere that the ancient Romans had a reason for saying religion tied you back. But it has been so long, I have since forgotten the details. So I guess I am asking you to refresh my memory too. Funeral=rake also has an interesting origin. Again, I ask what and why?

Thank you in advance for your kindly replies :slight_smile:.

My (old!!) Latin dictionary says Cicero derives religio from relegere, whereas Servius, Lactantius et al. and modern etymologists derive it from religare, for which Lactantius cites “religionum nodis animos exsolvere” (Lucretius).

For funus it mentions fumus and Sanskrit dhūmá and similar, not sure what is supposed to be raked

ETA sure, these are to a large extent folk etymologies

The Romans had a liking for folk etymologies; they would often link their own words to roots that look superficially plausible but are not the actual origin of the word. “Religion” could be one example; you could trace it to ligare, which means tying or binding, with the re- prefix for back; but that doesn’t necessarily mean this is where the word really comes from, it could be a coincidental similarity. Wiktionary links it to a much more ancient Indo-European root that has the meaning of having something in mind.

As for “funeral”, that goes back to a Latin adjective derived from the Latin noun funus, which had the same meaning as today’s word in ancient times already. Wiktionary traces the ultimate origin to an Indo-European root meaning “to die”, which makes sense. So the similarity to another word meaning “rake” could be yet another folk etymology.

Eta2 Cicero’s citation is “religentem esse oportet, religiosum nefas”