"worship of the dead or their spirits," 1826, from Latinized form of Ecclesiastical Greek nekrolatreia; see necro- "death" + -latry "worship of."
Entries linking to necrolatry
necro-
before vowels, necr-, word-forming element meaning "death, corpse, dead tissue," from Latinized form of Greek nekros "dead body, corpse, dead person," from PIE root *nek- (1) "death."
-latry
word-forming element meaning "worship of," used as an element in native formations from 19c. (such as bardolatry), from Greek -latreia "worship, service paid to the gods, hired labor," related to latron (n.) "pay, hire," latris "servant, worshipper," from PIE *le- (1) "to get" (see larceny).