columbarium

noun

Definition of columbariumnext
as in mausoleum

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of columbarium Later, the victims’ ashes were interred in a modest columbarium that the priest had built in a Catholic cemetery. — Sheila Coronel, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2026 And the columbarium would have been open to all Irvine residents, with priority given to veterans. — Victoria Le, Oc Register, 16 Jan. 2026 When the base closed, the land passed to the city of Alameda, but one corner was retained by the VA to build a new 158,000-square-foot outpatient clinic and columbarium as a final resting place for Bay Area veterans. — John Ramos, CBS News, 16 Dec. 2025 And columbaria – the plural for columbarium – are on the rise in the Diocese of Nashville. — Laura L. Davis, Nashville Tennessean, 27 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for columbarium
Recent Examples of Synonyms for columbarium
  1. mausoleum
  2. crypt
  3. vault
  4. catacomb
  5. tomb
  6. cemetery
  7. charnel
  8. burial
Noun
  • The memorial, which features sculptures of an angel and bronze doves, is located in a cemetery that is also home to the world’s largest Catholic mausoleum.
    — Luis Andres Henao, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026
  • The shovel now hangs above a massive fireplace in Digger’s mansion, one of those lavish, sprawling estates that the wealthy build as monuments to themselves and which invariably become mausoleums.
    — Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of mausoleum
Noun
  • The grandiose panic room where Kate and Hal are locked down after the shooting was filmed in the crypt of a church on the Upper West Side.
    — Emily Zemler, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Michael the Lawyer and Ben the Barrel Racer go into the third crypt (Alan calls them gay Lara Crofts) and have the option of grabbing $15,000 in gold or $5,000 and a clue about the Traitors.
    — Alice Burton, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of crypt
Noun
  • At the center of it all is the daring, epic raid on a bank vault deep beneath the streets of Zurich.
    — Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026
  • In a major move last year, the special administrative region of China linked its gold vault with one in Shanghai, allowing physical gold delivery to international institutions in Hong Kong denominated in yuan.
    — Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of vault
Noun
  • During the tournament, access to the space, which is taking over a catacomb once used by players for warmups, has been floated at $120,000 per person.
    — Ben Ryder Howe, Curbed, 21 Aug. 2026
  • But passing motorists largely knew nothing of the collection of handmade replica of catacombs, Biblical scenes and Israelite villages beneath it.
    — Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of catacomb
Noun
  • Architect Todd Ernst, who helped uncover the mural, compared the experience to discovering an Egyptian tomb.
    — Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 13 Oct. 2026
  • But there is very little archaeological evidence available, given that many of the earliest Egyptian tombs were plundered and/or hastily excavated.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of tomb
Noun
  • Hundreds of mourners later gathered at Rehman Baba cemetery for mass funeral prayers as grief gripped the neighborhood and announcements echoed from mosque loudspeakers, urging residents to join in prayers for those killed.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
  • To judge from the lines of young, very devoted fans snaking around the cemetery, Geese has already built the requisite subculture to thrive longer-term.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of cemetery
Noun
  • One is a charnel house dominated by Daniel Day-Lewis’s Bill the Butcher, a man with unnerving knife skills.
    — New York Times, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2026
  • This was also the case in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, which abandoned the novel’s complex (and, importantly, entertaining) moral quandaries in favor of a clock tower colossus doubling as a steam punk charnel house.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 25 Feb. 2026
Definition of charnel
Noun
  • Among the items back on Greek soil are black- and red-figure vessels, some with handles, decorated with scenes from Greek mythology, and would have been used in everyday life or as burial offerings.
    — Leigh Anne Miller, ARTnews.com, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Similar memorial and burial ceremonies will be held Thursday in three other parts of Vietnam, with the remains of what are believed to be 93 people to be buried in Tuyen Quang province.
    — Aniruddha Ghosal, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of burial

Browse Nearby Words

columbaria
columbarium
column
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Columbarium.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/columbarium. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on columbarium

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about columbarium

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of bon vivant

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 16
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All