cemetery

[sem-i-ter-ee]

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noun, plural cem·e·ter·ies.

an area set apart for or containing graves, tombs, or funeral urns, especially one that is not a churchyard; burial ground; graveyard.

Origin of cemetery

1375–1425; late Middle English < Late Latin coemētērium < Greek koimētḗrion a sleeping place, equivalent to koimē- (variant stem of koimân to put to sleep) + -tērion suffix of locality

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for cemetery

tomb, garden, graveyard, mortuary, ossuary, crypt, sepulcher, catacomb, necropolis, vault, grave, Golgotha, churchyard, charnel

Examples from the Web for cemetery

Contemporary Examples of cemetery

The NYPD Emerald Society pipes and drums struck up a slow march and the procession began the journey to the cemetery.
Choking Back Tears, Thousands of Cops Honor Fallen Officer Ramos
Michael Daly
December 28, 2014
Now open a cemetery" or "Do you make doctors work as nurses?
Putin’s Health Care Disaster
Anna Nemtsova
November 30, 2014
Three kids play cricket among the crude gravestones in a cemetery that is the largest in the province.
Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan’s Taliban Valley
Matt Trevithick, Daniel Seckman
November 15, 2014
I remember very clearly the scene at the cemetery, it was very emotional.
The Dishonor of Honor Killings
Sara Stewart
October 20, 2014
And they said Glenn Evans will take you up to the cemetery, throw you in an open grave and tell you he is going to kill you.
I Was Beaten By Chicago’s Dirtiest Cop, Lawsuit Contends
Justin Glawe
September 16, 2014

Historical Examples of cemetery

Passing the Jewish cemetery, Kate and Harry paused a moment.
Malbone
Thomas Wentworth Higginson
Macarius was attacked when in a cemetery, and passed a whole night in defending himself.
The Dream
Emile Zola
Not long since I took occasion to visit the cemetery near this city.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VII (of VII)
John Greenleaf Whittier
Tip watched her, and she took the road leading to the cemetery.
Tip Lewis and His Lamp
Pansy
This we dignified, even in common speech; it was always grandly "the Cemetery."
Tiverton Tales
Alice Brown

British Dictionary definitions for cemetery

cemetery

noun plural -teries

a place where the dead are buried, esp one not attached to a church

Word Origin for cemetery

C14: from Late Latin coemētērium, from Greek koimētērion room for sleeping, from koiman to put to sleep

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cemetery

late 14c., from Old French cimetiere "graveyard" (12c.), from Late Latin coemeterium, from Greek koimeterion "sleeping place, dormitory," from koiman "to put to sleep," keimai "I lie down," from PIE root *kei- "to lie, rest," also "bed, couch," hence secondary sense of "beloved, dear" (cf. Greek keisthai "to lie, lie asleep," Old Church Slavonic semija "family, domestic servants," Lithuanian šeima "domestic servants," Lettish sieva "wife," Old English hiwan "members of a household," higid "measure of land," Latin cunae "a cradle," Sanskrit Sivah "propitious, gracious"). Early Christian writers were the first to use it for "burial ground," though the Greek word also had been anciently used in reference to the sleep of death. An Old English word for "cemetery" was licburg.