a door to the hall or foyer from the parlor to allow for the movement of caskets; from the time when the wealthy would host their wakes and funerals in their own homes. It is a supplementary door to the main doors of the front parlor. The funeral door existed to allow for the dead to move through doors without needing to use the doorways used by the living.
Origin
funeral + door from being a door used for funerals
Modern English dictionary
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