1595–1605; < Latin cenotaphium < Greek kenotáphion, equivalent to kenó ( s ) empty + -taphion ( táph ( os ) tomb + -ion diminutive suffix)
A cenotaph is a monument to the dead, specifically those buried in another place. Cenotaphs are often erected in honor of war veterans. A cenotaph — which is very similar to a tomb — is a memorial to the dead. Unlike a tomb, a cenotaph doesn’t contain the body of the person memorialized, because the remains are elsewhere or couldn’t be recovered. Across the United States, you can find cenotaphs for people who served in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, and other conflicts. Family members and other citizens leave flowers at cenotaphs to pay respect to the dead.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The cenotaph "is not a billboard for claims, however respectable they may be," he said.
From Barron's • Oct. 23, 2025
Police community support officers are now guarding the cenotaph on the Esplanade, Rochdale, after the vandalism.
From BBC • Nov. 7, 2023
Choi kneels before the cenotaph and hangs his head.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2023
“A vast cenotaph of secession” was how the journalist and historian Tony Horwitz described Richmond in his 1998 book, “Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches From the Unfinished Civil War.”
From New York Times • Dec. 26, 2022
This cenotaph was erected in Botany Bay, upon the spot where the navigator had pitched his camp.
From Celebrated Travels and Travellers Part III. The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth Century by D'Anvers, N.
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.
