crematorium

IPA/ˌkreməˈtɔːriəm/
KK[krimətˈɔriəm]IPA/ˌkriːməˈtɔːriəm/

crematorium — noun

  • crematoriumsingular
  • crematoriumsplural

1. a building with a special furnace where a dead person's body is turned to ash, u

1.nounB2
Definition

a building with a special furnace where a dead person's body is turned to ash, usually during a funeral service

Example

The funeral cars stopped outside the crematorium while the family said goodbye.

preposition: outside / at the crematorium

Tamar’s family chose a crematorium near the coast because her grandfather loved the sea.

collocation: choose a crematorium

Common collocations
  • at the crematorium
  • the local crematorium
  • a crematorium chapel
  • visit the crematorium
  • choose a crematorium
Synonyms
  • crematory

    especially in American English; refers to the same type of building

Grammar Patterns

crematorium + verb (stands / is located / was built)

at / in / outside the crematorium

Usage Note

In American English the word crematory is more common. The plural can be either crematoria (formal, from Latin) or crematoriums.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Crematorium and crematory refer to exactly the same building; crematory is the preferred term in the United States, while crematorium is more common in Britain and other English-speaking countries. Cremation (noun) is the process of burning a body, not the building where it happens. A funeral home is a business that prepares bodies for burial or cremation and holds services; some have crematoriums on site, but many do not. A mortuary is a building or room where dead bodies are kept before burial or cremation; unlike a crematorium, it has no furnace for cremation. For example: “The family held the memorial service at a funeral home, then drove to the crematorium for the cremation.”

crematory ↗cremation ↗funeral homemortuary

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • local crematorium
  • nearest crematorium

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Crematorium comes from the Latin word cremare, meaning “to burn,” combined with the suffix -torium, which indicates a place where something is done. So the word literally means “a place for burning.” The same Latin root gives us the verb cremate and the noun cremation.