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sepulchre

American  
[sep-uhl-ker] / ˈsɛp əl kər /

noun

Chiefly British.
sepulchred, sepulchring
  1. sepulcher.


sepulchre British  
/ ˈsɛpəlkə /

noun

  1. a burial vault, tomb, or grave

  2. Also called: Easter sepulchre. a separate alcove in some medieval churches in which the Eucharistic elements were kept from Good Friday until the Easter ceremonies

"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

verb

  1. (tr) to bury in a sepulchre

"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

Etymology

Origin of sepulchre

C12: from Old French sépulcre, from Latin sepulcrum, from sepelīre to bury


Explanation

There are many possible resting places for your body once you die, and a sepulcher is the best option if you want a fancy room made entirely from stone. Think it over, because you can only choose once. Crypts, mausoleums, sarcophagi, sepulchers: each one is a place to bury someone, with slight variations. A sepulcher (or if you’re British you’ll spell it sepulchre) is basically a stone room with a stone coffin where your body lies. The word comes from the Latin sepulcrum, which means “burial place,” for obvious reasons. Pronouncing sepulcher could trick you, because the ch actually sounds like a k: "SEP-ul-ker."

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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:

In some accounts he is buried with his wife and two children next to the tomb of Jesus — the ultimate martyr’s sepulchre.

From Time ● Mar. 30, 2016

It depicts a stern risen Christ on the edge of a sepulchre; the city's name means "holy sepulchre" in Italian.

From Reuters ● Nov. 16, 2014

Maurice, meanwhile, is terrified of mouldering in respectable suburbia, dragging some poor virgin into the sepulchre with him.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 5, 2013

Veneration for the sepulchre and reverence for the dead belong to the most ancient instincts of the human race.

From Time Magazine Archive

Was there someone here? f • • • Maester Luwin stepped toward the open sepulchre, torch in hand.

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin

Upon my wedding ring stands the cinerary urn that soon sepulchred my peace, my hopes.

From Infelice by Augusta J. (Augusta Jane) Evans

But softly tread upon the sacred ground, Where Britain's bards lie sepulchred round.

From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 13, No. 368, May 2, 1829 by Various

His bones lie sepulchred under the eternal snows of the Arctic pole.

From Mountain Moggy The Stoning of the Witch by William Henry Giles Kingston

Tired out and wearied with the riotous world, Beneath this yew I would be sepulchred.

From The Poetical Works of Henry Kirk White : With a Memoir by Sir Harris Nicolas by Henry Kirk White

With a wildering moan leave the Buried alone In their tomb in the quivering heart: While it pours its wild blood in a hot lava flood Round its beautiful sepulchred Dead.

From The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No 2, August, 1864 Devoted to Literature and National Policy by Various

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