noun
Other Word Forms
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.
Burial arrangements had been finalised and his remains were due to be flown back home on Wednesday on a private charter plane.
From BBC • Jun. 20, 2025
Burial, “Dreamfear” “I am the lord of ecstasy” — hell yeah.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2024
Both novels adeptly knit together Native mythology and the supernatural to address bigger issues: in “Sisters,” the fate of missing and murdered Indigenous women; in “Indian Burial Ground,” addiction and suicide.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 22, 2024
But he knew the people behind the Anson Street African Burial Ground Project, having worked with many of them before on similar efforts to preserve the region’s Black history.
From New York Times • Apr. 11, 2024
Beyond the hills to the north lay the African Burial Ground and beyond that, the big pond called the Collect.
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
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.
