cemetery
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
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
Compare meaning
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Explanation
A cemetery is the land used for burials. If you are 11 and you purchase a plot in a cemetery, you are planning too far ahead. Cemetery comes all the way from the Greek work koimētērion, which means "sleeping place." But the sleep you do in cemeteries is an eternal one. Cemeteries can often be found near churches, or in big parks outside of cities, usually gated off because the ground has been consecrated, or blessed. Sometimes we use cemetery metaphorically. The sea is a cemetery for shipwrecked sailors, just as a junk shop might be a cemetery for old shoes.
Vocabulary lists containing cemetery
Memorial Day Words
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List 5
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for October 30–November 5, 2021
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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.
"These are all over the cemetery," she told him.
From Science Daily • May 28, 2026
I work in a funeral and cemetery office, and I can tell you this: You can’t take money with you when you die.
From MarketWatch • May 20, 2026
Before processing to the cemetery, the priest asked the mourners to believe that the girls -- whose names translate to "faith" and "love" -- were now in a better place and with God.
From Barron's • May 19, 2026
It’s the only time that we’ve halted the screenings at the cemetery since we started.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
Their implicit message was that we were moving into what would become our own cemetery.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
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.
