Gravemarker

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A stone slab, monument, or other marker erected at a burial site to identify and commemorate the person interred there
2. A physical object such as a headstone or plaque placed over or beside a grave to mark its location and preserve the deceased's memory
3. Any standing stone, cross, or inscription set at the site of a burial to indicate where the dead are rested

Etymology: "Grave" comes from Old English "græf," a pit dug in the ground, and it shares a root with the Old English verb "grafan," meaning to dig or carve. The original sense was the excavated hole, not the burial place itself. "Marker" is "mark" plus the agent suffix "-er," meaning one that does the marking. "Mark" descends from Old English "mearc," a boundary or sign. Joined together, the compound is transparent: an object that marks a grave, with no separate history behind the combined form.

Synonyms: gravestone, tombstone, headstone