Graveside

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An area next to a burial plot where family and friends often come to grieve and pay tribute A spot adjacent to a grave site typically used for memorial gatherings and reflection The location beside a grave that serves as a place for mourners to congregate and honor the deceased
2. The place immediately beside a grave where people stand during burial ceremonies
3. A space at the side of a tomb used for final respects and family farewells

Etymology: "Graveside" is a plain compound built from two English words that have each been around for centuries. "Grave" comes from Middle English "grave," which traces back to Old English, while "side" descends from Old English "sīde," a word whose roots reach back through Proto-Germanic to a Proto-Indo-European base meaning something like "to lie down," reflecting the sense of a long, flat surface stretched out along the body. The "side" of a thing is, at root, the long extended part of it, which explains why the word could come to mean the flank of a body and then the edge of anything at all. Joining the two produced a noun meaning the area immediately beside a grave. The "-side" element works the same way in other English compounds such as "roadside" or "seaside," where it marks a location along the edge of something.

Synonyms: tombside, burial site, grave, INVALID, INVALID