burial

noun

buri·​al ˈber-ē-əl 

ˈbe-rē-

also ˈbər-ē-

often attributive

1

: grave, tomb

2

: the act or process of burying

Synonyms of burial

• funeral
• interment
• entombment
• burying

Examples of burial in a Sentence

They prepared the body for burial.

She wanted to give him a proper burial.

Did you attend the burial?

The law prohibits the burial of toxic substances without special permits.

Recent Examples on the Web

The victim’s cousin launched a GoFundMe that raised $540 as of Wednesday evening for her burial. — Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 12 Aug. 2026

Warmooge’s mother, Saluugla, refuses to bury her son without justice, believing burial without accountability would erase his death. — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 10 Aug. 2026

This tomb, and others in Sardinia, was built as a collective burial site around 1800 BCE by the Nuragic people. — Leigh Anne Miller For Artnews, Robb Report, 8 Aug. 2026

Though each of the nine reports labeled the cause of death as asphyxiation due to burial in snow, sections describing the conditions of the bodies were redacted. — Andrew Graham, Sacbee.com, 8 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English beriel, berial, back-formation from beriels (taken as a plural), from Old English byrgels; akin to Old Saxon burgisli tomb, Old English byrgan to bury — more at bury

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing burial

• burial ground
• burial plot

Rhymes for burial

• actuarial
• adversarial
• secretarial
• urticarial
• aerial
• areal
• ariel
• antimalarial
• biserial
• filarial
• malarial
• subaerial

Kids Definition

burial

noun

buri·​al ˈber-ē-əl 

: the act of burying