noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of burial
First recorded in 1200–50; bury + -al 2; replacing Middle English buriel, back formation from Old English byrgels “burial place,” from byrg(an) “to bury” + -els(e), noun suffix ( cf. riddle 1)
Explanation
A burial is the act of placing a dead person in a grave. It's a ritual of respect and closure. If your pet lizard dies, give him a proper burial by digging a little grave in your backyard. If you've ever been to a funeral, you've probably witnessed a burial — lowering a corpse into the ground. Though burying a body is physically like burying anything, a burial involves solemn rituals and deep respect. Often, religious services are given as the body goes under, and the family and friends gather at the burial to mourn the dead. A tombstone or other marker is erected after the burial.
Vocabulary lists containing burial
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -al, -ial
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"Taste of Salt" by Frances Collins, Chapters 13–18
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Doctor Faustus
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Burial, “Dreamfear” “I am the lord of ecstasy” — hell yeah.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2024
But he knew the people behind the Anson Street African Burial Ground Project, having worked with many of them before on similar efforts to preserve the region’s Black history.
From New York Times • Apr. 11, 2024
The DNA of the girl in the cemetery, labeled Burial 12 by the archaeologists who first uncovered her bones, showed the child’s ancestry was fully African, with a mitochondrial genetic signature common to West Africa.
From Science Magazine • Feb. 17, 2024
The only other film he had under his belt was the microbudget “The Burial Of Kojo,” which was made for less than $100,000.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 24, 2023
It was brought back to Greenwood and turned over to the Century Burial Association, local Negro undertakers.
From "Mississippi Trial, 1955" by Chris Crowe
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
