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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.

mausoleum British  
/ ˌmɔːsəˈlɪəm /

noun

  1. a large stately tomb

"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
mausoleum Cultural  

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

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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The North Korean leader's daughter Kim Ju Ae has made her first visit to a mausoleum housing her grandfather and great-grandfather, state media images showed Friday, further solidifying her place as her father's successor.

From Barron's • Jan. 2, 2026

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

From BBC • Nov. 18, 2025

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

From BBC • Oct. 19, 2025

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 • Oct. 9, 2025

Six bodyguards, including Tam Lin and Daft Donald, carried the coffin from the hospital to the desert beyond the mausoleum.

From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer

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.