inhume

inhume — verb

  • inhumepresent simple I / you / we / they
  • inhumes3rd person singular
  • inhuming-ing form
  • inhumedpast simple

1. to put a dead person or human remains into the ground or another burial place.

1.verbtransitiveC2
Definition

to put a dead person or human remains into the ground or another burial place.

Example

The village elders inhumed the chief beside his ancestors at sunrise.

inhume + person, burial ceremony

After the storm, workers returned to inhume the sailor on higher ground.

Common collocations
  • inhume the body
  • inhume the remains
  • inhume with full honors
  • be inhumed in a tomb
  • be inhumed beside ancestors
Synonyms
  • bury

    the normal everyday verb, less formal than inhume

  • inter

    very formal and close in meaning, common in official or historical writing

  • entomb

    narrower, often suggests placing the dead in a tomb or vault

Antonyms
  • exhume

    the opposite action of taking buried remains out of the grave

Grammar Patterns

inhume + [body / remains / dead person]

be inhumed in [place]

Usage Note

Object is usually a body, remains, or a person who has died, not an ordinary object. The verb is formal and often appears in historical, ceremonial, religious, or official writing rather than everyday conversation.

Common Mistakes

They inhumed the stolen money under a tree.
They buried the stolen money under a tree.
inhume is used for a dead person or human remains, not for ordinary objects.
The nurse inhumed the patient before the operation.
The nurse prepared the patient before the operation.
you can only inhume someone after death, as part of burial.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Inhume, bury, inter, and entomb all describe placing a dead person in a final resting place, but they differ in register and setting. Bury is the normal everyday verb and works in most situations, from a family funeral to a news report. Inter and inhume are both formal and are more likely to appear in historical writing, official notices, or ceremonial language. Inter is the more established formal choice in modern English, while inhume is rarer and can sound literary or specialized. Entomb is narrower because it usually suggests a tomb, vault, or stone chamber rather than an ordinary grave. A newspaper may say a soldier was buried with honors, while an old record may say he was interred or inhumed in the abbey.

inhume ↗bury ↗inter ↗entomb ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • be inhumed at the cemetery
  • inhume the remains with full honors
  • inhume in a family tomb

Prepositions

  • in [grave / tomb / vault]
  • beside [ancestor / spouse]
  • with [full honors / ceremony]

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Borrowed from Latin inhumare, built from in- meaning 'into' and humus meaning 'earth' or 'ground'. The word came into English as a formal term for placing a dead body into the earth, and it still sounds mostly historical, literary, or official today.

First known use

1604

1604, in the meaning defined above