headstone

[hed-stohn]

noun

1. a stone marker set at the head heads of a grave; gravestone.

headstone

/ ˈhɛdˌstəʊn /

noun

1. a memorial stone at the head of a grave

2. architect another name for keystone

Word History and Origins

Origin of headstone¹

First recorded in 1525–35; head + stone

Example Sentences

Stray leaves cover the field, like headstones in a cemetery.

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Not included: “A headstone or any other permanent memorial,” the site adds.

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The Commonwealth War Grave Commission cleared the site of all headstones after many had been vandalised or fallen into disrepair.

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Before that he was a young boy, born on Halloween, frolicking among unmarked headstones as the son of funerary masons.

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As he stood at the headstone in St Kentigern's cemetery, where his father, mother and three other siblings already lay, he took a moment to remember Anne.

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Related Words

• marker 
• monument 
• tombstone