urn

[ urn ]

/ ɜrn /

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See synonyms for urn on Thesaurus.com

noun

a large or decorative vase, especially one with an ornamental foot or pedestal.

a vase for holding the ashes of the cremated dead.

a large metal container with a spigot, used for making or serving tea or coffee in quantity.

Botany. the spore-bearing part of the capsule of a moss, between lid and seta.

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Origin of urn

1325–75; Middle English urne<Latin urna earthen vessel for ashes, water, etc., akin to urceus pitcher, Greek hýrchē jar

OTHER WORDS FROM urn

urnlike, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH urn

earn, urn

Words nearby urn

urinoscopy, urinous, URL, Urmia, Urmston, urn, Ur-Nammu, urnfield, urning, uro-, urobilin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use urn in a sentence

Eventually, he decided not to retest the contents of the urn and to hand the girl’s remains over to Barnes’s father, who had come to the scene and also became visibly upset once he heard police claimed the urn held drugs.
Police told a man a container in his car tested positive for drugs. It was his daughter’s ashes.|Andrea Salcedo|May 21, 2021|Washington Post
Barnes has filed a federal lawsuit alleging officers with the Springfield Police Department unlawfully took the sealed urn containing his daughter’s remains, opened it without his consent, and spilled some of the ashes while testing for drugs.
Police told a man a container in his car tested positive for drugs. It was his daughter’s ashes.|Andrea Salcedo|May 21, 2021|Washington Post
At one point, one officer showed the urn to another officer.
Police told a man a container in his car tested positive for drugs. It was his daughter’s ashes.|Andrea Salcedo|May 21, 2021|Washington Post
It’s a leap of faith, after all, to accept that the dust in an urn was actually once your grandfather or a favorite aunt.
How to Be Better at Death (Ep. 450)|Maria Konnikova|February 4, 2021|Freakonomics

As the congressional ceremony came to a close, an honor guard slowly carried the urn and the trifolded flag to the waiting hearse.
Officer Brian Sicknick remembered as hero who died defending the U.S. Capitol|Meagan Flynn, Emily Davies, Paul M. Duggan|February 3, 2021|Washington Post
The Oberhausen aquarium erected a memorial of the psychic octopus with a golden urn containing his ashes.
The Amazing Tale of Paul the Psychic Octopus: Germany’s World Cup Soothsayer|Emily Shire|July 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We have a lock of his hair, a few photos, and plaster footprints, along with the tiny blue urn we chose when we had him cremated.
Daily Beast Readers React to YouTube Stillborn Baby Memorials|Brandy Zadrozny|November 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The boys remains are supposedly contained in an urn in Westminster Abbey.
Richard III - Princes in Tower Will Not Be Disinterred|Tom Sykes|February 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The Queen was reportedly in "full agreement" with the church authorities that the urn should not be opened.
Richard III - Princes in Tower Will Not Be Disinterred|Tom Sykes|February 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Browne wrote hauntingly of the resemblance between the urn and the womb.
Halloween Read: Thomas Browne’s Eerie Premonition of His Burial|Stefan Beck|October 30, 2012|DAILY BEAST
After the burning, the bones are collected, placed in an urn, and interred upon some eminence under a small monument.
A Woman's Journey Round the World|Ida Pfeiffer
These simple objects speak more directly to the heart than storied urn or animated bust.
The Catacombs of Rome|William Henry Withrow
She squatted at my feet, putting the tray on the bench, and holding a large graceful urn of some liquid to replenish my cup.
Valley of the Croen|Lee Tarbell
The heart of Anne is likewise buried in a silver urn in the same vault.
Travels through the South of France and the Interior of Provinces of Provence and Languedoc in the Years 1807 and 1808|Lt-Col. Pinkney
The urn had been sent down, with strict injunctions to keep the water boiling, and all was cleared away.
Newton Forster|Captain Frederick Marryat

British Dictionary definitions for urn

urn

/ (ɜːn) /

noun

a vaselike receptacle or vessel, esp a large bulbous one with a foot

a vase used as a receptacle for the ashes of the dead

a large vessel, usually of metal, with a tap, used for making and holding tea, coffee, etc

botany the spore-producing capsule of a moss

Derived forms of urn

urnlike, adjective

Word Origin for urn

C14: from Latin ūrna; related to Latin ūrere to burn, urceus pitcher, Greek hurkhē jar

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