cemetery
Americannoun
plural
cemeteriesnoun
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.
The nearest cemetery was 9 miles away across the Nile into Khartoum’s downtown district, but going there essentially would be a suicide run, Izzo said.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026
Zulmi was buried in a military cemetery in his hometown in Bandung, West Java, while Ichwan and Farizal were laid to rest in their respective hometowns in Central Java and Yogyakarta.
From Barron's • Apr. 5, 2026
Meanwhile, cemetery spaces are limited and only come with a temporary lease which must be renewed every 20 years.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
The cemetery, too, starts to overflow, and so bodies must be burned.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
In no time at all, the cemetery had been transformed.
From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
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.
