interment
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of interment
1300–50; inter + -ment; replacing Middle English enter ( e ) ment < Middle French enterrement
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How does interment compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Interment is the placing of a corpse in a grave. If a loved one dies, you need to make arrangements for the interment so that people can bid the deceased farewell. Interment comes from root words meaning "to place inside," and in this case it's the placing of someone inside the earth, for burial. The Egyptian Pyramids are landmarks of very extravagant interment. At the Chinese Emperor Qin's interment, he had an army of warriors made out of terra cotta buried with him, in case he needed to fight in the afterlife.
Vocabulary lists containing interment
"The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe
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The Importance of Being Earnest
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Stories of Ourselves
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Someone who exhumed a recent interment without that knowledge might well have discovered something difficult to explain.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 21, 2025
His funeral ceremony at the National Cathedral will be held the following day — which President Biden has decreed a national day of mourning — followed by a private interment in his Georgia hometown, Plains.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 1, 2025
“This moment,” said the Rev. Jesse Wendell Mapson, a local pastor involved in planning the commemoration and interment of the 19, “has not come without some pain, discomfort and tension.”
From New York Times • Feb. 3, 2024
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds ordered all flags lowered to half-staff in honor of Marburger until sunset on the day of his funeral and interment.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 15, 2024
Ordinarily at the cemetery the lid of a coffin was lifted a final time before interment, allowing loved ones to say good-bye, but the condition of Anna’s body made that impossible.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
