cemetery

noun

cem·​e·​tery ˈse-mə-ˌter-ē 

-ˌte-rē

plural cemeteries

: a burial ground

Synonyms of cemetery

• graveyard

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

After the service, the family took some extra time to say a private goodbye before a procession takes his casket to the cemetery for a private burial. —Sara Tenenbaum, CBS News, 8 May 2026

Minab has been transformed into a landscape of collective grief, where the rhythm of daily life now includes frequent visits to the cemetery, where small graves are arranged in neat rows, just steps apart, mimicking the order of a school assembly. —Zohreh Saberi, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2026

By the time boundary issues were partially corrected in the 1960s, both the cemetery and the surrounding Black community had been largely erased from public memory. —Kamal Morgan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 May 2026

Ronald Reagan visited Bitburg, Germany, in 1985 and laid a wreath at a military cemetery where World War II soldiers, some of them Nazis, were buried. —Al Shipley, SPIN, 4 May 2026

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

Rhymes for cemetery

• accessary
• adversary
• ancillary
• arbitrary
• aviary
• axillary
• beriberi
• breviary
• budgetary
• capillary
• catenary
• cautionary

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"