noun
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Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of burial
First recorded in 1200–50; bury + -al 2; replacing Middle English buriel, back formation from Old English byrgels “burial place,” from byrg(an) “to bury” + -els(e), noun suffix ( cf. riddle 1)
Explanation
A burial is the act of placing a dead person in a grave. It's a ritual of respect and closure. If your pet lizard dies, give him a proper burial by digging a little grave in your backyard. If you've ever been to a funeral, you've probably witnessed a burial — lowering a corpse into the ground. Though burying a body is physically like burying anything, a burial involves solemn rituals and deep respect. Often, religious services are given as the body goes under, and the family and friends gather at the burial to mourn the dead. A tombstone or other marker is erected after the burial.
Vocabulary lists containing burial
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -al, -ial
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"Taste of Salt" by Frances Collins, Chapters 13–18
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Doctor Faustus
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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:
"We don't have enough freezers here... We had to choose this last alternative of temporary burial system. We are really overwhelmed," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
On Aug. 13, cemetery officials along with members of the Inglewood city council gathered at Raker sisters’ burial site to commemorate the newly placed markers, the first for the eldest Raker sister.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
The hatchet burial has been brewing for a while.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
The following day, two volunteers were injured while attempting to conduct a burial in Haut-Uele province.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
He deserved more than quick prayers in a run-down hut; he deserved a proper burial with token coins placed in his palms to ensure he made it to the godlands.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
The dead are traditionally cremated on funeral pyres in Hindu-majority Nepal, and the burials are viewed as long-term storage until families can retrieve them.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai told reporters on Sunday the burials followed international protocols, adding that Nepal needed "more than a thousand" freezer units to store bodies.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
The earliest burials were generally spaced apart from one another, and the bodies were placed inside coffins.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
His sentencing hearing was told forms used to monitor and record burials and cremations had not been returned and, according to the prosecution, "not followed up by the assigned registrar".
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Dobyns was struck by the disparity between the large number of burials recorded at the parish and the far smaller number of baptisms.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
