exhume

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

verb (used with object)

exhumed, exhuming 

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

2. to revive or restore after neglect or a period of forgetting; bring to light.

   to exhume a literary reputation; to exhume old letters.

exhume

/ ɛksˈhjuːm, ˌɛkshjʊˈmeɪʃən /

verb

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

2. to reveal; disclose; unearth

   don't exhume that old argument

Other Word Forms

• exhumation noun
• exhumer noun
• unexhumed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of exhume¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of exhume¹

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

Example Sentences

This is in addition to the voluminous effort spanning six nights and 12 hours that reasserts, among many truths, Burns’ dedication to exhuming the rocky facts buried underneath convenient mythmaking.

Read more on Salon

He exhumed corpses from graveyards in Wisconsin in the 1950s and admitted to killing at least two women whose bodies he then mutilated.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Breaking for health tests, Ruci stayed there until October 7, when judicial authorities agreed to exhume his son's body for toxicology tests.

Read more on Barron's

After leaving a floral offering for her great-grandfather, whose remains have yet to be exhumed, Lucia rests in her father's arms.

Read more on Barron's

Their bodies have bound feet or missing heads; many corpses were exhumed and burned in situ.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• disclose 
• resurrect 
• unearth