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

Gnesye, an aging grandmother, has spent her life at the gates of the shtetl cemetery. —Literary Hub, 22 Jan. 2026

Some went into storage or got moved to Civil War cemeteries, and Charlottesville, Virginia, had its statue of Lee melted down. —Lily Meyer, The Atlantic, 22 Jan. 2026

One pediatrician, who was on duty at a children’s hospital on January 9th, told me that her staff transported more than a hundred and fifty corpses from their emergency ward to one of the city’s main cemeteries, Behesht-e Reza, that night. —Cora Engelbrecht, New Yorker, 22 Jan. 2026

In 2021, Carolyn Dunn Moudy was identified as the woman whose body Davie Police found floating in a canal in 1975 after exhuming her body from Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens cemetery in Davie in 2019. —Angie Dimichele, Sun Sentinel, 19 Jan. 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"