cemetery

American  

[sem-i-ter-ee] / ˈsɛm ɪˌtɛr i /

noun

cemeteries plural

1. an area set apart for or containing graves, tombs, or funeral urns, especially one that is not a churchyard; burial ground; graveyard.

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cemetery British  

/ ˈsɛmɪtrɪ /

noun

1. a place where the dead are buried, esp one not attached to a church

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• cemeteries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cemetery

1375–1425; late Middle English < Late Latin coemētērium < Greek koimētḗrion a sleeping place, equivalent to koimē- (variant stem of koimân to put to sleep) + -tērion suffix of locality

Compare meaning

How does cemetery compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• cemetery vs. graveyard

Explanation

A cemetery is the land used for burials. If you are 11 and you purchase a plot in a cemetery, you are planning too far ahead. Cemetery comes all the way from the Greek work koimētērion, which means "sleeping place." But the sleep you do in cemeteries is an eternal one. Cemeteries can often be found near churches, or in big parks outside of cities, usually gated off because the ground has been consecrated, or blessed. Sometimes we use cemetery metaphorically. The sea is a cemetery for shipwrecked sailors, just as a junk shop might be a cemetery for old shoes.

Example Sentences

A CEMETERY, in which several Deaths are assembled, most of whom are playing on noisy instruments of music, as a general summons to mortals to attend them.

From The Dance of Death Exhibited in Elegant Engravings on Wood with a Dissertation on the Several Representations of that Subject but More Particularly on Those Ascribed to Macaber and Hans Holbein by Douce, Francis

Related Words

• garden
• graveyard
• mortuary
• tomb