cemetery

[sem-i-ter-ee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cemetery ON THESAURUS.COM

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

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

But an Eskimo, for his part, can sit all day as still as a tombstone in a cemetery.
Grenfell: Knight-Errant of the North
Fullerton Waldo
When a driven man arrives at a cemetery world, what else can it be but journey's end—and the start of a new one?
Dead Man's Planet
William Morrison
A lot of discoloured bones were lying about among the débris disinterred from the cemetery by the bombardments.
Fanny Goes to War
Pat Beauchamp
Lasné was among the mourners, and witnessed the interment, which took place in the cemetery of Sainte-Marguerite.
Celebrated Claimants from Perkin Warbeck to Arthur Orton
Anonymous
The nature of the Santiago cemetery is entirely different from these last-mentioned two.
Journeys and Experiences in Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile
Henry Stephens

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.