cemetery
Americannoun
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
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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.
In October, authorities established a cemetery in the city of Deir al Balah to bury unidentified bodies recovered from around the enclave.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 9, 2026
He began his visit at a cemetery, pausing in prayer in an area where unidentified migrants are buried in numbered graves.
From Barron's • Jul. 4, 2026
But the ultimate vindication of the Fourth of July would come four months later, at the dedication of the national cemetery at Gettysburg for the Union dead of the battle.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 1, 2026
Shortly after, cinematographer Pat Scola’s overhead view of a makeshift cemetery is a stunner.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 18, 2026
Quick on his feet, he often dashed across the Jungfem Bridge and hid in the pine forest around the New Johannes cemetery.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
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.
