sepulchre

IPA/ˈseplkə(r)/
IPA/ˈseplkər/

sepulchre — noun

  • sepulchresingular
  • sepulchresplural

1. a building, cave, or room cut into rock, used in past times as a place to hold t

1.nounC2
Definition

a building, cave, or room cut into rock, used in past times as a place to hold the body of a dead person

Example

Inside the old stone sepulchre, Devika found carvings of animals on the wall.

collocation: stone sepulchre

The Roman sepulchre that James visited still held the bones of a small child.

relative clause after sepulchre

Common collocations
  • stone sepulchre
  • marble sepulchre
  • ancient sepulchre
  • family sepulchre
  • inside a sepulchre
  • walls of the sepulchre
Synonyms
  • tomb

    the most common word for a stone burial place, often above ground

  • grave

    a place where a dead body is buried, usually a hole in the ground with a stone marker

  • crypt

    a room under a church used as a burial place

  • mausoleum

    a large, impressive building built to hold the bodies of one or more important people

Usage Note

The spelling 'sepulcher' (without the 'r' before 'e') is used in American English. The word 'tomb' is more common in everyday speech.

Common Mistakes

They visited a sepulchre at the cemetery.
They visited a tomb at the cemetery.
'sepulchre' is very formal and rare in modern English; 'tomb' is the usual word.

sepulchre — verb

Word family

  • sepulchral
    adjectiveC2
  • sepulcher
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Sepulchre, tomb, grave, crypt, and mausoleum all refer to places where dead bodies are kept, but they differ in formality, structure, and usage. 'Tomb' is the most common word — it usually describes a stone structure above ground or cut into rock. 'Grave' is the simplest and most frequent: a hole in the ground with a marker, used for most modern burials. 'Crypt' is a room under a church where bodies are placed, often in stone boxes called sarcophagi. 'Mausoleum' is a large, grand building built to hold the bodies of important people or families. 'Sepulchre' overlaps with 'tomb' in meaning but is far less common and is now restricted to formal, historical, or literary contexts — you would read about 'ancient sepulchres in Egypt' but you would visit a 'tomb' or 'grave' at a modern cemetery.

tomb ↗grave ↗crypt ↗mausoleum ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • walls of the sepulchre
  • floor of the sepulchre
  • entrance to the sepulchre
  • door of the sepulchre

Prepositions

  • in a sepulchre
  • inside a sepulchre
  • into a sepulchre
  • behind the sepulchre

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

From Latin 'sepulcrum' meaning a place of burial, which comes from the verb 'sepelire' meaning to bury. The word passed through Old French 'sepulcre' before entering English in the 1200s. The modern French 'sépulcre' and Spanish 'sepulcro' come from the same Latin root.

First known use

13th century

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1 Verb