exhume

[ ig-zoom, -zyoom, eks-hyoom ]
/ ɪgˈzum, -ˈzyum, ɛksˈhyum /

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.

QUIZZES

HEED THE VOX POPULI, AND TAKE THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!

Test your memory on these verbal firecrackers from the week of June 29 to July 5!
Question 1 of 7
anchorite
a granular metamorphic rock.
a person who has retired to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion.
a hobble or fetter for a horse or other animal.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of exhume

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

OTHER WORDS FROM exhume

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

Words nearby exhume

exhilaration, exhilarative, exhort, exhortation, exhortative, exhume, exigeant, exigency, exigent, exigible, exiguous
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for exhumation

British Dictionary definitions for exhumation

exhume
/ (ɛksˈhjuːm) /

verb (tr)

to dig up (something buried, esp a corpse); disinter
to reveal; disclose; unearthdon't exhume that old argument

Derived forms of exhume

exhumation (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