From Greek 'kyparissos' (probably pre-Greek), associated with mourning since antiquity.
An evergreen coniferous tree of the genus Cupressus, with dark foliage and a tall, narrow form, traditionally associated with mourning.
From Old French 'cipres,' from Latin 'cupressus,' from Greek 'kyparissos,' probably from a pre-Greek Mediterranean language. The Greeks associated the cypress with death and planted it in cemeteries—a custom that persists around the Mediterranean today. Key roots: kyparissos (Greek (pre-Greek substrate): "cypress tree").
In Greek myth, the boy Cyparissus accidentally killed his beloved pet stag and was so grief-stricken that Apollo transformed him into a cypress tree—hence the tree's association with mourning.