disinter

IPA/ˌdɪsɪnˈtɜː(r)/
IPA/ˌdɪsɪnˈtɜːr/

disinter — verb

  • disinterpresent simple I / you / we / they
  • disintershe / she / it
  • disinterredpast simple
  • disinterring-ing form

1. to take a buried body out of its grave so it can be examined or buried again

1.verbtransitiveC2
Definition

to take a buried body out of its grave so it can be examined or buried again

Example

Liang disinterred the bones after the police reopened the case.

disinter + remains in a reopened investigation

After the flood, workers disinterred the coffin from the hillside cemetery.

Common collocations
  • disinter a body
  • disinter human remains
  • disinter a coffin
  • disinter the bones
Synonyms
  • exhume

    the closest formal synonym, especially in legal or medical contexts

  • unearth

    broader and less formal; it can also refer to objects or information

Antonyms
  • bury

    place a body in the ground

  • inter

    a formal verb meaning to bury a body

Grammar Patterns

disinter + body/remains/coffin

be disinterred from + grave/tomb

Usage Note

This sense usually refers to remains, bones, or coffins, and it often appears in legal, forensic, or archaeological reporting. It is much more formal than the everyday verb dig up.

Common Mistakes

The crew disinterred a hole for the new pipe.
The crew dug a hole for the new pipe.
disinter is used for buried remains, not for ordinary digging.

2. to uncover and bring back into use something long forgotten, hidden, or ignored

2.verbtransitiveC2
Definition

to uncover and bring back into use something long forgotten, hidden, or ignored

Example

Jessica disinterred an old recipe notebook from her grandmother's kitchen drawer.

disinter + old object from a hidden place

Wei disinterred school records that proved his grandfather owned the shop.

Common collocations
  • disinter old records
  • disinter forgotten evidence
  • disinter sketches from storage
  • disinter a notebook from a drawer
Synonyms
  • recover

    focuses on getting something back, without the image of digging it up

  • rediscover

    stresses finding value in something again after a long gap

  • unearth

    more common and less formal; often used for new discoveries

Antonyms
  • hide

    put something where it will not be found easily

  • bury

    leave something forgotten or ignored instead of bringing it back

Grammar Patterns

disinter + records/evidence/object

disinter + item + from + drawer/archive/storage

Usage Note

The object is usually evidence, papers, artworks, or stored items rather than a body. Compared with sense 1, this use is figurative and stresses bringing something back into attention or use.

Common Mistakes

I disinterred the keys from my coat pocket.
I took the keys out of my coat pocket.
disinter suggests something buried, hidden for a long time, or forgotten.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Disinter and exhume both refer to taking buried remains out of a grave, but exhume is the more standard word in legal, medical, and news writing. Unearth is broader and more everyday: you can unearth coins, evidence, or family stories, and it often suggests a discovery rather than an official removal. Recover focuses on getting something back, not on the image of digging it out. In its figurative second sense, disinter keeps the metaphor of digging up something long hidden, so it sounds more literary and deliberate than recover or rediscover.

exhume ↗unearth ↗recover ↗rediscover ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • disinter a body
  • disinter human remains
  • disinter old records
  • disinter from storage

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Disinter was formed by adding the prefix dis- ('out of, away from') to inter, a formal verb meaning 'bury'. Inter came into English through Anglo-French and ultimately from Latin in terrare, literally 'place in the earth', from terra ('earth').