Showing results for "sepulchre"

• a variation of sepulcher.

sepulchre

American  

[sep-uhl-ker] / ˈsɛp əl kər /

noun

Chiefly British.

sepulchred, sepulchring

1. sepulcher.

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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

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verb

1. (tr) to bury in a sepulchre

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sepulchre sepulchred

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

In front of the small dark door of a stately sepulchre, kneels a woman's figure in black, alone, anonymous, the mother of the Unknown Soldier.

From Time Magazine Archive

Singing and bearing candles, the nuns leave the choir and follow the priest to the sepulchre.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

Yet, strange to say, when Darwin died, instead of being buried in some quiet Kentish cemetery or churchyard, he was actually sepulchred in Westminster Abbey.

From Flowers of Freethought (Second Series) by Foote, G. W. (George William)

I regarded it as a vast tomb of Mausolus in which lay deep sepulchred how much genius, culture, brilliancy, power!

From Prince Zaleski by Shiel, M. P. (Matthew Phipps)

If they were to be torn apart by death, and sepulchred possibly in different caves of the ocean, surely his last farewell might be a kiss.

From Overland by De Forest, J. W. (John William)

The Brook Farmers have nearly all joined the congregation of the beyond, but they are sepulchred in the four quarters of the globe.

From My Friends at Brook Farm by Sears, John Van Der Zee

It is the woman sepulchred in a small village who finds herself most severely handicapped.

From Journalism for Women A Practical Guide by Bennett, Arnold