mausoleum
Americannoun
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mausoleums,
plural
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mausolea
plural
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a stately and magnificent tomb.
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a burial place for the bodies or remains of many individuals, often of a single family, usually in the form of a small building.
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a large, gloomy, depressing building, room, or the like.
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(initial capital letter) the tomb erected at Halicarnassus in Asia Minor in 350? b.c.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of mausoleum
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin < Greek Mausoleîon the tomb of Mausolus, king of Caria
Explanation
A mausoleum is a building that contains a tomb or tombs. The Taj Mahal, built by Shah Jahan as a monument to his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, is the world's most famous mausoleum. Mausoleion, the Greek source of the Latinized mausoleum, was the name given to the tomb of the King Mausolus, a Persian ruler who died in 353 B.C.E. This vast elaborate structure was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Other notable mausoleums or mausolea include the mausoleum of China's First Qin Emperor –- the site of the famous Terra Cotta Army — and the tombs of Ulysses S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln.
Vocabulary lists containing mausoleum
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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.
See Examples For:
He’s the reason lower Manhattan is today a lively, thriving urban environment rather than an urban-planning mausoleum.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
The service will be followed by a private burial in Norway's royal mausoleum in the Akershus Fortress.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
The bronze crypt plate mounted at the mausoleum had the star’s name engraved on it before she died, alongside her husband’s name and a depiction of her Tennessee home.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
A room on the Taj Mahal—Shah Jahan’s mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, and the Mughals’ most famous landmark—feels a little underwhelming: Nothing could replace being there.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
Enrique peeks over the edge of the mausoleum.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
“What does it mean to have some lone surviving mausolea in the middle of a massive jumble of roads and traffic?”
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 10, 2023
"It looks like a large number of villa buildings, along with a probable bath house and perhaps even mausolea and a chapel," said Dr Gater.
From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2022
The National Museum of African American History and Culture now stands as a glittering golden crown on the Mall, in Washington DC, a brilliant foil to the neighbouring rows of white stone mausolea.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 28, 2017
Such men heed no trophies; they ask no splendid mausolea.
From A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents Volume 2, part 2: John Quincy Adams by James D. (James Daniel) Richardson
Like the mausolea of Metella, on the Appian Way, and Hadrian, on the right bank of the Tiber, it was subsequently converted into a stronghold, and occupied by the Colonnas.
From Pagan and Christian Rome by Rodolfo Amedeo Lanciani
A Cuban tour guide at Havana’s historic Colón Cemetery, a popular visitor draw because of its elaborate monuments and mausoleums, said she lost her job this spring as tourism collapsed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
Conservative governor Tarcisio de Freitas on Tuesday signed the so-called Bob Coveiro law that will allow pets to be buried in family graves or mausoleums across Sao Paulo state.
From Barron's ● Feb. 10, 2026
Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi admitted to leading fighters who destroyed historic mausoleums at the world heritage site in Mali in 2012.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2024
Since then, volunteers—also known as “gravers”—have stalwartly photographed and recorded tombstones, mausoleums, crosses, statues, and all other manner of graves for posterity.
From Slate ● Oct. 24, 2024
The mare stopped, letting them survey the stones, the willow tree dangling its fingers over the rooftops of the two small mausoleums, the dusky grove of poplars beyond.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
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