cremate

[ kree-meyt ]

/ ˈkri meɪt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cremate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), cre·mat·ed, cre·mat·ing.

to reduce (a dead body) to ashes by fire, especially as a funeral rite.

to consume by fire; burn.

RELATED WORDS

incineration, pyre

Nearby words

Origin of cremate

1870–75; < Latin cremātus past participle of cremāre to burn to ashes; see -ate¹

Related formscre·ma·tion

[kri-mey-shuh n] /krɪˈmeɪ ʃən/, nounun·cre·mat·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cremation

Then Heal STL was burned down Monday like a moribund body for cremation.
The Baptism of Michael Brown Sr. and Ferguson’s Baptism by Fire|Justin Glawe|November 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Cammue, whose agency has now performed a thorough assessment of the current cremation process at Boystown, is extremely concerned.
Rage Against the Ebola Crematorium|Abby Haglage|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
"Cremation is not necessary to have safe and dignified burial," Tarik Jasarevic tells me.
Rage Against the Ebola Crematorium|Abby Haglage|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Last November, for example, I managed to track down a celebrated tantric at a cremation ground near Birbhum in West Bengal.
Road Tripping With Sufi Mystics|William Dalrymple|June 18, 2010|DAILY BEAST

The Danish antiquaries are able to refer to a definite period when cremation was abandoned for inhumation.
The Archaeology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland|Daniel Wilson
Instances show that the two rites of inhumation and cremation were practised side by side.
The Bronze Age in Ireland|George Coffey
The Cremation Society felt that this report much strengthened the case for legislation amending the law of death certification.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 6|Various
But cremation, though not unusual, seems never to have been a general custom with the Maoris.
The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead|James George Frazer
The arrangements for the cremation varied in different places.
The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, Vol. I (of 2)|W. Crooke

British Dictionary definitions for cremation

cremate

/ (krɪˈmeɪt) /

verb

(tr) to burn up (something, esp a corpse) and reduce to ash

Derived Formscremation, nouncremationism, nouncremationist, noun

Word Origin for cremate

C19: from Latin cremāre

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 cremation

cremation

1620s, from Latin cremationem (nominative crematio), noun of action from past participle stem of cremare "to burn, consume by fire" (also used of the dead), from PIE *krem-, extended form of root *ker- "heat, fire" (see carbon).

cremate

1874, a back-formation from cremation. Related: Cremated; cremating.