urn

American  

[urn] / ɜrn /

noun

• urns
  plural

1. a large or decorative vase, especially one with an ornamental foot or pedestal.

2. a vase for holding the ashes of the cremated dead.

3. a large metal container with a spigot, used for making or serving tea or coffee in quantity.

4. Botany. the spore-bearing part of the capsule of a moss, between lid and seta.

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urn British  

/ ɜːn /

noun

1. a vaselike receptacle or vessel, esp a large bulbous one with a foot

2. a vase used as a receptacle for the ashes of the dead

3. a large vessel, usually of metal, with a tap, used for making and holding tea, coffee, etc

4. botany the spore-producing capsule of a moss

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• urnlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• urns
  plural

Etymology

Origin of urn

1325–75; Middle English urne < Latin urna earthen vessel for ashes, water, etc., akin to urceus pitcher, Greek hýrchē jar

Explanation

An urn is a large, hollow vase that's usually made of metal or clay. Some urns are used for making coffee or tea, others are made to put someone’s ashes in. Go figure. Urn is probably from the Latin word urna for "a jar or vessel," but some say it’s from another Latin word urere which means, "to burn.” While some urns are used for making hot drinks, the most common use of an urn is holding the ashes of a dead person. Most urns are decorated. “Ode to a Grecian Urn” by the Romantic poet John Keats (1820), is a poem about the figures on a classical Greek urn.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

urn urns

Officers explained to Ness that they had checked records at the crematorium and found Bush collected the baby's ashes on 13 May - two days after he had presented Ness and Ellerby with the urn.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

It’s backed by a mission-style silhouette tiled with an urn overflowing with foliage.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

Hoyte van Hoytema’s Imax-framed cinematography is assertive and present, rocking with the stormy waves and peering into the torch-lit darkness where the color palette is as starkly orange and black as an ancient Greek urn.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

There are now only 10 matches before Australia defend the urn in the UK next summer.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

A cluster of mashis and meshos surround them, telling them continually what to do, when to speak or stand or throw flowers at a small brass urn.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

Near a white tent, about a hundred empty urns awaited ashes of the dead after cremation.

From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026

He has added gold trim to the crown molding, smothered the walls with gold-framed artworks and gold-painted embellishments, placed inch-thick gold coasters on the desk, and lined up gold urns on the mantel.

From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026

Other wall-mounted falcon sculptures in wood, bronze and glass suggest sconces, trophies and Greco-Roman urns.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025

It revealed a Bronze Age barrow - an ancient burial mound - with the cremated bones of several people contained inside five closely-packed urns.

From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2025

The doors faced out on a barren, floodlit terrace—black cinder, privet in concrete urns, a statue artfully broken in white pieces on the ground.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Related Words

• container
• jar
• pot
• vase