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 of burial

• 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

Officials say a burial team was attacked in the province of South Kivu while trying to safely bury an Ebola victim, forcing workers to abandon the coffin and allowing community members to handle the body. —Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 4 June 2026

Meanwhile, Sanz-Royo and her colleagues also put three of the teeth into fancy lab machinery to simulate millennia of burial. —ArsTechnica, 2 June 2026

Archaeologists have previously identified mudbrick and limestone burial structures, fragments of coffins, inscribed limestone blocks, and a Roman-period coin. —Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 1 June 2026

Health workers have also faced resistance from some communities, where Ebola burial protocols have clashed with local customs and led to attacks on treatment facilities. —Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 31 May 2026

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

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

Kids Definition

burial

noun

buri·​al ˈber-ē-əl 

: the act of burying