Meanings
present singular third person exhumes · participle present exhuming · participle past exhumed · past exhumed
- transitiveTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter.
The archeologist exhumed artifacts from the ground with a shovel.
2 more examples
Not so long ago a Scotsman is reported to have exhumed the body of his daughter and burnt her heart, as he thought she was devitalising her remaining brother and sister and making them ill.
1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 126A year later, investigators exhumed her remains in hopes of uncovering new evidence, but the effort yielded no fresh leads, and her skull was never reburied.
2026 September 3, Shreya Lele, “The “Lady of the Dunes” Was Found Murdered in 1974. Nearly 50 Years Later, She Got Her Name Back”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 03 Sep 2026 - figurativelytransitiveTo uncover; to bring to light.
Long dead traditions are exhumed just for the tourists.
1 more example
Memorial was permeated by a sense of mission, a moral imperative to exhume the truth and display it to the eyes of its compatriots, whatever feelings of shame, outrage, denial, or shock might ensue.
2009, S. E. Wilmer, Writing and Rewriting National Theatre Histories, page 47
Synonyms & antonyms
verbdig up for reburial or for medical investigation; of dead bodies
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinex-
- Medieval Latinexhumō
- Englishexhume
From Medieval Latin exhumō, from Latin ex- + humō (“to bury”).
More words from Medieval Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian изра́вям, ексхуми́рам
- изра́вям (izrávjam)To dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
- ексхуми́рам (ekshumíram)To dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Catalan exhumar
- exhumarTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Chinese Mandarin 發掘 /发掘
- 發掘 /发掘 (fājué)To dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Czech exhumovat
- exhumovatTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Dutch opgraven
- opgravenTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Finnish kaivaa ylös, paljastaa
- kaivaa ylösTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
- paljastaato uncover, bring to light
French exhumer
- exhumerTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
German exhumieren
- exhumierenTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Hawaiian huaʻi
- huaʻiTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Hungarian kiás, kihantol
- kiásTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
- kihantolTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
- exhumálTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Icelandic grafa upp
- grafa uppTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Irish dí-adhlaic
- dí-adhlaicTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Italian esumare
- esumareTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Japanese 掘り出す, 掘り起こす
- 掘り出す (horidasu)To dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
- 掘り起こす (horiokosu)To dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
- 発掘する (hakkutsu suru)To dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Māori huaki, hahu
- huakiTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
- hahuTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
- ehuTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Polish ekshumować
- ekshumowaćTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Portuguese exumar, desenterrar
- exumarTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
- desenterrarTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Romanian exhuma, deshuma
- exhumaTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
- deshumaTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
- dezgropaTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Russian эксгуми́ровать, выка́пывать
- эксгуми́ровать (eksgumírovatʹ)To dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
- выка́пывать (vykápyvatʹ)To dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
- вы́копать (výkopatʹ)To dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
- вырыва́ть (vyryvátʹ)To dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
- вы́рыть (výrytʹ)To dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Spanish exhumar
- exhumarTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Swedish gräva upp, exhumera
- gräva uppTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
- exhumeraTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Ukrainian ексгумува́ти
- ексгумува́ти (ekshumuváty)To dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Welsh datgladdu
- datgladduTo dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with exhume
Cite this entry
exhume. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/exhume
“exhume.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/exhume. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “exhume,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/exhume.
Source: exhume on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.