cemetery

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English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:

cemetery

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery

Alternative forms[edit]

cœmeterium (history)
cœmetery (archaic)

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English cimiterie, from Old French cimitiere, from Medieval Latin cimitērium, from Late Latin coemētērium, from Ancient Greek κοιμητήριον (koimētḗrion), from κοιμάω (koimáō, “I put to sleep”); compare cœmeterium. Displaced native Old English līctūn.

Pronunciation[edit]

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛm.ɪˌtɹi/, /ˈsɛm.əˌtɹi/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛm.ɪˌtɛɹ.i/, /ˈsɛm.əˌtɛɹ.i/
(New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈsem.ɘˌtʃɹi/, /ˈsem.ɘˌtiəɹ.i/
(AAVE) IPA^(key): [ˈsɪm.əˌtɛ.ɪ]
Audio (US) (file)

Noun[edit]

cemetery (plural cemeteries)

A place where the dead are buried; a graveyard or memorial park.
- 1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter II, in The Last Man. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:
  The plain around was interspersed with cemeteries, Turk, Greek, and Armenian, with their growth of cypress trees...
- 1970, Kazimierz Godłowski, “The chronology of the Late Roman and early migration periods in Central Europe”, in Acta scientiarum litterarumque: Schedae archeologicae‎^[1], Nakładem Uniwersytetu Jagiellonśkiego, page 22:
  They were probably the work of individual craftsmen working to meet the chieftains' needs. Their place in the chronology of the big cemeteries is indicated by the less richly-decorated double-springed bronze brooches which are found here.
- 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, London: Heinemann, →OCLC, page 37:
  ...the cemetery—which people of shattering wit like Sampson never tired of calling ‘the dead centre of town’...

Synonyms[edit]

See also Thesaurus:cemetery

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

a place where the dead are buried — see graveyard

See also[edit]

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