1595–1605; < Latin cenotaphium < Greek kenotáphion, equivalent to kenó ( s ) empty + -taphion ( táph ( os ) tomb + -ion diminutive suffix)
A cenotaph is a monument to the dead, specifically those buried in another place. Cenotaphs are often erected in honor of war veterans. A cenotaph — which is very similar to a tomb — is a memorial to the dead. Unlike a tomb, a cenotaph doesn’t contain the body of the person memorialized, because the remains are elsewhere or couldn’t be recovered. Across the United States, you can find cenotaphs for people who served in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, and other conflicts. Family members and other citizens leave flowers at cenotaphs to pay respect to the dead.
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In the square leading to the cenotaph, relatives and friends have written the names and ages of the disaster's 57 victims in red paint.
From Barron's • Oct. 23, 2025
She said the "tenor" of the posts was to "encourage members of the public to attend a preorganised protest", and by 18:00 BST about 200 people had gathered around the cenotaph in Hartlepool town centre.
From BBC • Aug. 8, 2024
Choi kneels before the cenotaph and hangs his head.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2023
“A vast cenotaph of secession” was how the journalist and historian Tony Horwitz described Richmond in his 1998 book, “Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches From the Unfinished Civil War.”
From New York Times • Dec. 26, 2022
I believe that the fashion had been set by the founder of the united monarchy himself, and that besides the tomb of Menes at Negada there was also a cenotaph of the king at Abydos.
From The Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia by Sayce, A. H. (Archibald Henry)
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.
