burial

B3U1R1I1A1L1
UK/ˈbɛɹi.əl/US, regional/ˈbɝi.əl/

noun

The act of burying; interment; placing remains into the earth.

“His whole family was present at his burial.”

Meanings

nounburial (countable and uncountable, plural burials)

plural burials · alternative obsolete buriall

  1. countableuncountableThe act of burying; interment; placing remains into the earth.

    His whole family was present at his burial.

    3 more examples

    The mourners listened as the priest performed the burial service of long-time parishioner Wendy Stuart.

    A dreary year for the Squadron, this 1819, when officers and men fell sick by the shipload and were sent home by the tenderful, when Lemon Valley Hospital was supplemented by the one at High Peak, when Court-Martials were held at the rate of one a fortnight, burials thrice a week, and surveys on foul provisions every other day!

    1912, George Leo de St. M. Watson, Sir Robert Thomas Wilson, A Polish Exile with Napoleon, page 276

    However, many Cromlechs and Dolmins are carelessly called "Druid's circles", when in reality they were the burial places of ancient chieftains and their households[.]

    1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 206

Synonyms & antonyms

nounthe ritual placing of a corpse in a grave

nounconcealing something under the ground

Similar

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Old Englishbyrġels
  2. Middle Englishbiriel
  3. Englishburial

From Middle English biriel, a backformation from biriels, which was re-interpreted as a plural, itself from from Old English byrġels, from byrġan (“to bury”) + -els. By surface analysis, bury + -al, but originally unrelated to this suffix.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ταφή
  • ταφή (taphḗ)interment
Arabic دَفْن, تَدْفِين
  • دَفْن (dafn)interment
  • تَدْفِين (tadfīn)interment
Bengali দাফন
  • দাফন (daphon)interment
Bulgarian погребе́ние
  • погребе́ние (pogrebénie)interment
Catalan enterrament
  • enterramentinterment
Chinese Mandarin 埋葬
  • 埋葬 (máizàng)interment
Czech pohřbení, pohřeb
  • pohřbeníinterment
  • pohřebinterment
Danish begravelse
  • begravelseinterment
Dutch begrafenis
  • begrafenisinterment
Esperanto entombigo
  • entombigointerment
Estonian matmine, matus
  • matmineinterment
  • matusinterment
Finnish hautaus
  • hautausinterment
French enterrement, inhumation
  • enterrementinterment
  • inhumationinterment
  • sépultureinterment
  • ensevelissementinterment
German Begräbnis
  • Begräbnisinterment
Greek ταφή
  • ταφή (tafí)interment
Hebrew קְבוּרָה
  • קְבוּרָה (k'vura)interment
Hindi दफ़न
  • दफ़न (dafan)interment
Hungarian temetés
  • temetésinterment
Icelandic greftrun
  • greftruninterment
Italian sepoltura, inumazione
  • sepolturainterment
  • inumazioneinterment
Japanese 埋葬
  • 埋葬 (maisō)interment
Korean 매장
  • 매장 (maejang)interment
Latin humātiō, illātiō
  • humātiōinterment
  • illātiōinterment
  • sepultūrainterment
Māori tanumanga, tāpukenga
  • tanumangainterment
  • tāpukengainterment
  • nehungainterment
Norwegian Bokmål begravelse
  • begravelseinterment
Persian دفن, تدفین
  • دفن (dafn)interment
  • تدفین (tadfin)interment
Polish pogrzeb, pochówek
  • pogrzebinterment
  • pochówekinterment
Portuguese enterro, sepultura
  • enterrointerment
  • sepulturainterment
  • sepultamentointerment
  • inumaçãointerment
Romanian înmormântare, îngropare
  • înmormântareinterment
  • îngropareinterment
  • înhumareinterment
  • îngropăciuneinterment
Russian захороне́ние, погребе́ние
  • захороне́ние (zaxoronénije)interment
  • погребе́ние (pogrebénije)interment
  • по́хороны (póxorony)interment
Slovak pochovávanie, pohrebisko
  • pochovávanieinterment
  • pohrebiskointerment
  • pohrebinterment
  • pochovanieinterment
Spanish entierro, soterramiento
  • entierrointerment
  • soterramientointerment
  • enterramientointerment
  • sepulturainterment
  • sepultamientointerment
  • sepeliointerment
  • inhumacióninterment
Swahili mziko
  • mzikointerment
Swedish begravning
  • begravninginterment
Tagalog libing
  • libinginterment
Tamil அடக்கம்
  • அடக்கம் (aṭakkam)interment
Thai งานศพ
  • งานศพ (ngaan-sòp)interment
Turkish defin
  • defininterment
Ukrainian похова́ння, по́хорон
  • похова́ння (poxovánnja)interment
  • по́хорон (póxoron)interment
Urdu دفن, تدفین
  • دفن (dafan)interment
  • تدفین (tadfīn)interment
Vietnamese mai táng
  • mai tánginterment
Cite this entry
APA

burial. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burial

MLA

“burial.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burial. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “burial,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burial.

Source: burial on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.