Rest in peace

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The phrase "rest in peace" typically occurs on headstones, often abbreviated "RIP." "Rest in peace" is a prayer that the deceased may rest peacefully, not in torment, while awaiting Judgment Day. The expression comes originally from "requiescat in pace," Latin for "may he/she rest in peace." The English version is an example of backronym formation (although the two phrases mean roughly the same thing). Also, in Italian, it is said as "Riposi In Pace."

In Western Christianity, the belief that the dead wait in hades until Judgment Day has largely been replaced with the belief that the dead go to their respective fates immediately after death (see particular judgment). Both ideas are contrary to the minority belief known as soul sleep, that the dead receive neither reward nor punishment until Judgment Day.