Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CY'PRESS, n. [L. cupressus; Gr. κυπαρισσος.]

1. The popular name of a genus of plants or trees. The most remarkable are the sempervirens or common cypress, the evergreen American cypress or white cedar, and the disticha or deciduous American cypress. The wood of these trees is remarkable for its durability. The coffins in which the Athenian heroes and the mummies of Egypt were deposited, are said to have been made of the first species. – Encyc.
2. The emblem of mourning for the dead, cypress branches having been anciently used at funerals. Had success attended the Americans, the death of Warren would have been sufficient to damp the joys of victory, and the cypress would have been united with the laurel. – Eliot's Biog.