English

A death threat, featuring a mocked up epitaph reading R.I.P.

Alternative forms

• R.I.P.

Interjection

RIP

1. Rest in peace.

   When he died his family received hundreds of letters signed with RIP at the end.

Usage notes

• Usually pronounced letter by letter, not as rip.
• The phrase is never used in reference to actual sleep or rest for the living; it refers only to the dead.
• Typically found as an epitaph on a tombstone or in an obituary.
• The phrase is sometimes used as an epithet when referring to a deceased person, as in “This university was founded by Thomas Jefferson, RIP.”
• Can be used as an imperative verb: "She died in a car accident last week. RIP Christy."
• Also used as an indirect way of stating that someone or something is dead, literally or figuratively.
• Can be followed by a date or a year, which is the date or year of death.
• The symbolic representation of a grave, e.g. for Halloween decorations, cartoons, map markers, is a tuft of grass or earth with an upright tombstone with R.I.P. engraved on it.

Related terms

• RHIP
• PBUH

Translations

Proper noun

RIP

1. Routing information protocol, a dynamic routing protocol used in local and wide area networks.

Anagrams

• PRI

Italian

Alternative forms

• R.I.P.

Abbreviation

RIP

1. Initialism of riposi in pace; RIP

Latin

R. i. p. on a gravestone.

Initialism

RIP

1. Requiescat in pace: may he/she rest in peace; RIP.
2. Requiescant in pace: may they rest in peace; RIP.