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

• 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

Archaeologists concluded the structure was actually a false tomb, or a cenotaph, a type of burial monument erected to honor a deceased person buried elsewhere. —Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 2025

This was made possible by a process called clay templating, in which the external fleshy surface of the dinosaur was preserved over the skeleton after burial by a thin clay mask no more than 1/100th of an inch thick. —Abhishek Bhardwaj, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2025

Most of these migrants were fisher-hunter-gatherers and belonged to numerous ethnic groups who left vital evidence of their presence in stones, burial sites, and artifacts. —Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025

Until then, burial options for residents include private cemeteries and a dwindling number of plots in one run by a charitable organization. —Daniel Lempres, Sacbee.com, 23 Oct. 2025

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

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

Kids Definition

burial

noun

buri·​al ˈber-ē-əl 

: the act of burying