cemetery

noun

cem·​e·​tery ˈse-mə-ˌter-ē 

-ˌte-rē

plural cemeteries

: a burial ground

Synonyms

• boneyard
• God's acre
• graveyard
• memorial park
• necropolis
• potter's field

Examples of cemetery in a Sentence

many of the soldiers who died in the battle are buried in a cemetery nearby

Recent Examples on the Web

Margaret Crocker was known for her charity work, the cemetery said in a brochure about significant women in the cemetery. —Hanh Truong, Sacramento Bee, 28 Apr. 2024

Four years ago, Mississippi abandoned the state flag that flew for 126 years with a Confederate battle emblem embedded in it, and the Confederate monument that had been perched for a century on the lawn of the Lowndes County Courthouse in Columbus was moved to a secluded cemetery in 2021. —Rick Rojas Kate Medley, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2024

Experts were able to look at 424 skeletons in four different cemeteries in Hungary and learn more about Avar life. —Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Apr. 2024

Instead, the women tended to have distant relatives at other cemeteries. —Byandrew Curry, science.org, 24 Apr. 2024

The external cemetery has a large rectangular pit filled with horses and chariots, sacrificial pits and other structures, archaeologists said. —Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 24 Apr. 2024

The first is the cemetery where Vance was shot and where former NCIS director Tom Morrow (Alan Dale) is interred. —Sara Netzley, EW.com, 16 Apr. 2024

This is surely the case at Stonehenge, which functioned, in its early years, as one of the largest Neolithic cremation cemeteries known in Britain. —Dan Falk, Discover Magazine, 6 Apr. 2024

Over a millennium ago, an ancient society of hunter-gatherers in Argentina’s Patagonia region buried one of its members in a small cemetery. —Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English cimitery, from Anglo-French cimiterie, from Late Latin coemeterium, from Greek koimētērion sleeping chamber, burial place, from koiman to put to sleep; akin to Greek keisthai to lie, Sanskrit śete he lies

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

cemetery

noun

cem·​e·​tery ˈsem-ə-ˌter-ē 

plural cemeteries

: a place where dead people are buried : graveyard

Etymology

Middle English cimitery "cemetery," from early French cimiterie (same meaning), from Latin coemeterium "cemetery," from Greek koimētērion "sleeping chamber, burial place," from koiman "to put to sleep"