cemetery
Americannoun
-
cemeteries
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
"Go to the cemetery of any Russian city. You can see right away just how many men have been killed."
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
A man died and 12 other people were injured when the roof of a prayer hall at the cemetery of the town of Tibnin was hit, according to Lebanese media.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
In 2013, attackers desecrated a Protestant cemetery in Jerusalem.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
Unpopulated nightclubs as empty as a cemetery at midnight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Cem got his nickname because everyone said he should already be in the cemetery, on account of the dangerous work he did.
From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
As cemeteries become overcrowded, should loved ones become gardening soil?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Raman’s website shows that she met on-site at the cemeteries once in 2023.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Odd Arne Westad begins “The Coming Storm: Power, Conflict, and Warnings From History” with a poignant and haunting visit to World War I memorials and cemeteries in France.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Researchers explained that cemeteries provide especially good habitat because the land is peaceful, rarely disturbed, and largely free of pesticides.
From Science Daily ● May 28, 2026
Today, more than a hundred military cemeteries around Arras hold the remains of Allied soldiers killed in action there.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
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.
