cremate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to reduce (a dead body) to ashes by fire, especially as a funeral rite.
-
to consume by fire; burn.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
crematesimple
-
crematessimple
-
have crematedperfect
-
has crematedperfect
-
am crematingprogressive
-
are crematingprogressive
-
is crematingprogressive
-
have been crematingperfect progressive
-
has been crematingperfect progressive
Past
-
crematedsimple
-
had crematedperfect
-
was crematingprogressive
-
were crematingprogressive
-
had been crematingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cremate
First recorded in 1870–75; from Latin cremātus, past participle of cremāre “to burn to ashes”; see -ate 1
Explanation
When you cremate something, you burn it until only ashes are left. The word cremate is most often used to describe the ceremonial burning of dead bodies. If you burn a grilled cheese sandwich and there is nothing but black ashes left in the pan, you can say you cremated it. Usually, however, people use the verb cremate when they're talking about a practical or ceremonial burning of a body. Many people are cremated after dying, with their ashy remains either buried or scattered in a beautiful place. The Latin root word is cremare, "to burn or consume by fire."
Vocabulary lists containing cremate
The Devil's Arithmetic
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Bridge to Terabithia
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Mockingbird
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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.
See Examples For:
The Patel family waited another month before they could cremate her remains, postponing Ashok's last rites so they could be done together.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
Those who opt to bury or cremate on their own pay a funeral home.
From Slate ● Oct. 3, 2024
Not wanting to burden her neighbour with Ted's body until the family returned from holiday, Ms Knight organised for Heavenly Pets Crematorium to collect the body and cremate it.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2024
Nuñez and his partner, Nejyredth Valasquez, run We Care Pet Cremations, which offers to pick up and cremate pets and return the ashes in Los Angeles, Ventura, San Bernardino, Kern and Orange counties.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2024
"The effort to cremate the body having failed once, he would not resist my wishes in the second burial."
From Final Proof or the Value of Evidence by Ottolengui, R.
Not to worry, he said, promising to put his new cremates to work: “We’ll catch up next weekend.”
From Washington Post ● May 31, 2020
It’s July 29, 1981, when Patrick cremates his mother—the day, as it happens, that Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 22, 2018
Nowadays, if you die in Pierce County and you fall into two categories - both indigent and unclaimed - the county cremates your body and disposes of your remains.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 3, 2016
The administrator’s office cremates unidentified migrants instead of burying them — a switch that saves the county roughly $860 a person, said Rosie Blankenship, assistant public administrator for Imperial County.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2016
A woman always embalms the corpse of a dead love; a man wisely cremates it, and plants a new love in the ashes.
From A Guide to Men Being Encore Reflections of a Bachelor Girl by Rowland, Helen
Of the remains discovered at the Hessle Road premises, most were "of older people above the age of 60" and about six bodies were waiting to be cremated.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
They cremated their dead, spoke the Germanic ancestors of Old English and were pagans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Grecia's body, located Thursday, was taken by her father to be cremated in Caracas, while Víctor awaited the remains of his nephews and brother-in-law.
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
To overcome that challenge, an international team of researchers focused on rare non cremated burials discovered in Germany, Czechia, and Poland.
From Science Daily ● May 19, 2026
The rest had been cremated in the heat and their ashes sucked up by the swirling wind and blown away.
From "The Great Fire" by Jim Murphy
The family has also said Mexican authorities and funeral home representatives have repeatedly suggested cremating Blair’s remains.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 19, 2023
Workers in New Delhi on Tuesday building new platforms for cremating bodies, as the coronavirus takes an increasing toll on the country.Credit...
From New York Times ● Apr. 28, 2021
The victim's family accused local police of cremating her body without their consent, although the authorities denied this.
From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2020
Many states permit only three ways of dealing with dead bodies: Burying them, cremating them, or donating them to science.
From Slate ● Apr. 25, 2019
Several years ago--before the war--it burned down one night, cremating many memories.
From Red Masquerade by Vance, Louis Joseph
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.
