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exhume

[ ig-zoom, -zyoom, eks-hyoom ]
/ ɪgˈzum, -ˈzyum, ɛksˈhyum /
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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.
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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-shuhn], /ˌɛks hyʊˈmeɪ ʃən/, nounex·hum·er, nounun·ex·humed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use exhume in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for exhume

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
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