crematory

IPA/ˈkrem.ə.tər.i/
IPA/ˈkriː.mə.tɔːr.i/

crematory — noun

  • crematorysingular
  • crematoriesplural

1. a place where a dead person's body is reduced to ashes by fire, especially as pa

1.nounC2
Definition

a place where a dead person's body is reduced to ashes by fire, especially as part of funeral services; the word can refer to the building itself or to the furnace inside it.

Example

After the funeral, Hugo waited outside the crematory with his aunt.

common setting: outside the crematory after a funeral

The old crematory behind the cemetery was replaced last winter.

building sense: crematory as a funeral facility

Common collocations
  • old crematory
  • new crematory
  • crematory furnace
  • city crematory
Synonyms
  • crematorium

    the more usual alternative for the building where cremation happens

  • retort

    technical term for the cremation furnace itself, not the whole building

Usage Note

Often appears in news reports, official notices, and funeral-industry writing. In everyday conversation, many speakers use 'crematorium' for the whole place and reserve 'crematory' for more formal or technical contexts.

Common Mistakes

The body was buried in the crematory.
The body was cremated at the crematory.
a crematory is for burning a body after death, not for burial.
They visited the crematory to look at graves.
They visited the cemetery to look at graves.
a cemetery is the burial ground, while a crematory is the place for cremation.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Crematory' and 'crematorium' are very close, but 'crematorium' is often the more usual word for the whole place where cremation happens. 'Crematory' can also point more narrowly to the furnace itself, especially in official or technical contexts. A 'funeral home' is broader: it is the business or building where services are arranged, and it may or may not contain a crematory. A 'cemetery' is the land where bodies are buried, so it contrasts with cremation rather than naming the same place. You might say, 'The family drove to the crematorium after the service,' but 'They visited the cemetery to see the grave' refers to burial, not cremation.

crematory ↗crematorium ↗funeral homecemetery ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • outside the crematory
  • at the crematory

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Built from the same Latin root as 'cremate', from 'cremare' meaning 'burn'. In English it developed as a formal noun for the place, or sometimes the furnace, used to reduce a dead body to ashes.

First known use

1876

1876, in the meaning defined above