cemeteries

IPA/ˈsem.ə.tri/
KK[sˈɛmətˌɛriz]IPA/ˈsem.ə.ter.i/

cemeteries — noun

  • cemeteriessingular
  • cemeteriesesplural

1. a piece of land where dead people are buried, often with stones or markers to sh

1.nounB1
Definition

a piece of land where dead people are buried, often with stones or markers to show each person's grave

Example

Lucía visits her grandmother's grave at the old cemetery on the hill every Sunday.

collocation: visit + possessive + grave + at + cemetery

The city built a new cemetery outside of town because the old one was full.

passive: be buried in a cemetery; reason clause

Common collocations
  • visit a cemetery
  • buried in a cemetery
  • cemetery gate
  • cemetery wall
  • cemetery path
  • old cemetery
  • overgrown cemetery
Synonyms
  • graveyard

    often attached to a church; less formal than cemetery

  • burial ground

    a more general or formal term that includes any land used for burials

  • churchyard

    specifically a cemetery next to a church building

Common Mistakes

I visited the cemetery of my grandfather.
I visited my grandfather's grave at the cemetery.
The cemetery is a location; a person is buried in it, not owned by it.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Cemetery is the most general, neutral term for a place where dead people are buried, and it can be public or private. Graveyard is similar in meaning but usually suggests a small burial ground next to a church, and it feels slightly older or more informal. Churchyard refers specifically to the land around a church used for burials — it is narrower than cemetery. Memorial park is a modern term for a cemetery designed to look like a park, often with flat grave markers on grass instead of upright headstones. For everyday use, cemetery works in most situations; graveyard is common in casual speech; churchyard is best for describing an older rural church setting; and memorial park is used in official names of modern burial grounds.

cemetery ↗graveyard ↗churchyard ↗memorial park

Common collocations

Nouns

  • cemetery gate
  • cemetery wall
  • cemetery path
  • cemetery groundskeeper
  • cemetery plot

Phrases

  • buried in a cemetery
  • cemetery grounds

Prepositions

  • in a cemetery
  • at a cemetery

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

The word cemetery comes from the Latin coemētērium, which was borrowed from the Greek koimētērion, meaning 'a sleeping place' or 'dormitory'. The Greek root koiman means 'to put to sleep' — early Christians used this word because they viewed death as a peaceful sleep before resurrection. The word entered English through French cimetière in the medieval period.

First known use

15th century

15th century, in the meaning defined above