mausoleum

American  

[maw-suh-lee-uhm, -zuh-] / ˌmɔ səˈli əm, -zə- /

noun

PLURAL

mausoleums, mausolea

1. a stately and magnificent tomb.

2. a burial place for the bodies or remains of many individuals, often of a single family, usually in the form of a small building.

3. a large, gloomy, depressing building, room, or the like.

4. (initial capital letter)  the tomb erected at Halicarnassus in Asia Minor in 350? b.c.

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mausoleum British  

/ ˌmɔːsəˈlɪəm /

noun

1. a large stately tomb

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mausoleum Cultural  

1. A tomb, or a building containing tombs. Mausoleums are often richly decorated. The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum.

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Other Word Forms

• mausolean adjective

Etymology

Origin of mausoleum

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin < Greek Mausoleîon the tomb of Mausolus, king of Caria

Example Sentences

A footballing mausoleum of memories and moments, both awe-inspiring and harrowing.

From BBC

Odinga was buried nearby at his late father's homestead, where there is a family mausoleum.

From BBC

Robert Badinter, the justice minister who ended the death penalty in France in 1981, entered the country's Pantheon mausoleum of outstanding historical figures on Thursday, just hours after his grave was vandalised.

From Barron's

My first dispatch was from the mausoleum niche at Pacific View Memorial Park that holds the cremains of one of my predecessors, Ruben Salazar.

From Los Angeles Times

Lubin is alert to the various ways that “Sunset Boulevard” doesn’t just observe Old Hollywood but serves as its mausoleum.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• burial
• cemetery
• coffin
• monument
• vault