exhume

[ig-zoom, -zyoom, eks-hyoom]

verb (used with object), ex·humed, ex·hum·ing.

to dig (something buried, especially a dead body) out of the earth; disinter.

to revive or restore after neglect or a period of forgetting; bring to light: to exhume a literary reputation; to exhume old letters.

Origin of exhume

1400–50; late Middle English < Medieval Latin exhumāre, equivalent to Latin ex- ex-¹ + humāre to inter

Related formsex·hu·ma·tion

[eks-hyoo-mey-shuh n] /ˌɛks hyʊˈmeɪ ʃən/, nounex·hum·er, nounun·ex·humed, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for exhumation

Contemporary Examples of exhumation

There are plenty more candidates for exhumation, too, if we fancy it.
Scientists Exhume the Heart of Richard the Lionheart
Dan Jones
March 3, 2013
The Vatican agreed last month to finally settle the issue by granting the Italian police permission for the exhumation.
Italian Police Open a Mobster’s Vatican-Owned Tomb in Search of a Missing Girl
Barbie Latza Nadeau
May 16, 2012
His remains were buried in a family plot in Bavaria until their exhumation Wednesday.
Neo-Nazi Hero Taken From Grave
Eve Conant
July 22, 2011
That was before an exhumation team found his mother's remains and was finally able to identify them just this past summer.
Survivor of the Genocide
Lauren Comiteau
March 5, 2010

Historical Examples of exhumation

If Porter had not seen him that night, it is more than likely that there would have been an exhumation.
The Stark Munro Letters
J. Stark Munro
Fortified by this success, Goron was able to procure the exhumation of the body.
A Book of Remarkable Criminals
H. B. Irving
The next step was to order the exhumation of the body of Mrs. Taylor.
Poison Romance and Poison Mysteries
C. J. S. Thompson
Information of the exhumation seems to have quickly got about.
The Diary of a Resurrectionist, 1811-1812
James Blake Bailey
The dangers of the exhumation are not the only ones; the Bluebottle must be acquainted with others.
The Life of the Fly
J. Henri Fabre

British Dictionary definitions for exhumation

exhume

verb (tr)

to dig up (something buried, esp a corpse); disinter

to reveal; disclose; unearthdon't exhume that old argument

Derived Formsexhumation (ˌɛkshjʊˈmeɪʃən), nounexhumer, noun

Word Origin for exhume

C18: from Medieval Latin exhumāre, from Latin ex- 1 + humāre to bury, from humus the ground

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 exhumation

early 15c., from Medieval Latin exhumationem (nominative exhumatio), noun of action from past participle stem of exhumare (see exhume).

exhume

early 15c., from Medieval Latin exhumare "to unearth" (13c.), from Latin ex- "out of" (see ex-) + humare "bury," from humus "earth" (see chthonic). An alternative form was exhumate (1540s), taken directly from Medieval Latin. Related: Exhumed; exhuming.