columbarium

American  

[kol-uhm-bair-ee-uhm] / ˌkɒl əmˈbɛər i əm /

noun

plural

columbaria

1. a sepulchral vault or other structure with recesses in the walls to receive the ashes of the dead.

2. any one of these recesses.

3. columbary.

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columbarium British  

/ ˌkɒləmˈbɛərɪəm /

noun

1. another name for a dovecote

2. a vault having niches for funeral urns

3. a hole in a wall into which a beam is inserted

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Etymology

Origin of columbarium

1840–50; < Latin: literally, a nesting box for pigeons, equivalent to columb ( a ) pigeon, dove + -ārium -ary

Example Sentences

Her remains are stored in one of a series of ornate lockers in the columbarium of a Buddhist temple in Hsinchu, second from the bottom, just a few feet away from my uncle, her son.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2024

Ms. Morissette and partners purchased it in 1980 for $50,000 to use as a columbarium, state records show.

From New York Times • Apr. 9, 2022

The owners converted the structure, which has been brutalized for a century and a half by crashing waves, into the Eternity At Sea columbarium.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 28, 2022

Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery On Saturday, Dec. 14, approximately 3,000 wreaths will be placed on graves and at columbarium walls in the wreath laying ceremony in Millsboro, so every veteran will be honored.

From Washington Times • Dec. 7, 2019

The second columbarium is much like the first, excepting that the stair is not so well preserved.

From From the Oak to the Olive A Plain record of a Pleasant Journey by Howe, Julia Ward