cemetery

[ sem-i-ter-ee ]

noun

, plural cem·e·ter·ies.

1. an area set apart for or containing graves, tombs, or funeral urns, especially one that is not a churchyard; burial ground; graveyard.

cemetery

/ ˈsɛmɪtrɪ /

noun

1. a place where the dead are buried, esp one not attached to a church

Word History and Origins

Origin of cemetery¹

1375–1425; late Middle English < Late Latin coemētērium < Greek koimētḗrion a sleeping place, equivalent to koimē- (variant stem of koimân to put to sleep) + -tērion suffix of locality

Word History and Origins

Origin of cemetery¹

C14: from Late Latin coemētērium, from Greek koimētērion room for sleeping, from koiman to put to sleep

Example Sentences

“Sometimes, I just want to grab people and shake them awake,” said Robbins, as he walked up the well-worn cemetery path on a recent Friday to the shiny bronze marker bearing his son’s name.

From Washington Post

The Safe and Quiet Skies Act would prohibit tours over national parks, wildlife refuges, wilderness areas, military installations, and cemeteries.

From Outside Online

The site did serve as a cemetery between around 5,000 and 4,400 years ago.

From Science News For Students

Usually, burial in a Jewish cemetery follows immediately upon a Jewish funeral, individual mourners reverently accompanying the casket to wherever the cemetery is located.

From No Straight News

Hospitals and cemeteries struggled to keep up, and mass graves were dug to bury the dead.

From Science News

The procession continued on to the Cypress Hill Cemetery, where Ramos was buried the week before.

From The Daily Beast

The NYPD Emerald Society pipes and drums struck up a slow march and the procession began the journey to the cemetery.

From The Daily Beast

Now open a cemetery" or "Do you make doctors work as nurses?

From The Daily Beast

“We cannot allow the Mediterranean to become a vast cemetery,” he said.

From The Daily Beast

He is known for bragging about how he has “filled a whole cemetery.”

From The Daily Beast

His steps led him now not to the beach, but to the Cemetery of Rocklington, amid the potato-fields.

From Project Gutenberg

The first interment in the cemetery of Pere la Chaise; it was laid out and prepared by order of Bonaparte.

From Project Gutenberg

Two days later Ollie Dangerfield was laid away under the palms and umbrella-trees in the Phœnix cemetery.

From Project Gutenberg

In part of an ancient arenarium converted into a cemetery in the Catacomb of St. Priscilla similar constructions may be seen.

From Project Gutenberg

Thus Callixtus became the syndic of the public cemetery of the church, which still bears his name.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• garden
• graveyard
• mortuary
• tomb