disinter

American  

[dis-in-tur] / ˌdɪs ɪnˈtɜr /

verb (used with object)

disinterred, disinterring

1. to take out of the place of interment; exhume; unearth.

2. to bring from obscurity into view.

   The actor's autobiography disinterred a past era.

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disinter British  

/ ˌdɪsɪnˈtɜː /

verb

1. to remove or dig up; exhume

2. to bring (a secret, hidden facts, etc) to light; expose

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Other Word Forms

• disinterment noun

Etymology

Origin of disinter

First recorded in 1605–15; dis- ¹ + inter

Explanation

To "inter" a body is to bury it or place it in a mausoleum, so to disinter someone is to take the body out again — usually to find out how they died, to make sure it's really who we think it is, or to move the body to a new burial site. You might think you got away with murder, but once they disinter the body, the medical examiners will find out that the guy was a victim of your evil plot. A vampire sleeps all day in his own coffin and then disinters himself at night to go in search of blood. One way to remember the meaning of disinter is to think of "dis-entering" a body. When someone dies, their body is "entered" into the grave. If the body is removed, it's being "dis-entered," in a sense. But disinter is spelled — and pronounced — differently (diss-in-TUR), of course.

Example Sentences

Ingrid Rojas Contreras goes on to explore her family’s history as curanderos — South American shamans like her grandfather, whose bones the family decides to disinter in accordance with his spectral request.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 2, 2022

Earlier this year, an Arlington official responded, saying the Army did not have the legal authority to disinter Chabrol.

From Washington Post • Jun. 28, 2022

To fully identify graves, remains, and identities, researchers must also gather records, collect oral histories, and possibly disinter bodies — and it's not clear yet if communities will want to take the final painful step.

From Salon • Apr. 13, 2022

Banaji also said the agency doesn't plan to disinter the remains and try to identify them because it lacks sufficient documentation.

From Fox News • Aug. 2, 2021

As though he could disinter it by force.

From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner