Sepultur

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for the burial of a dead body, or for the tomb or grave where it is laid to rest
2. Old-fashioned word meaning the interment of a corpse, or the sepulchre in which the remains are placed
3. A dated English noun for a funeral interment, or for the grave and vault that receives the deceased

Etymology: English has two words that come from the same Latin root, "sepultura" (burial), and one of them took a detour through French. "Sepulchre" arrived first, through Old French "sepulcre," and gradually became tied to tombs, especially religious ones like the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The other, "sepulture," came in later, in the Middle English period, and kept the plainer sense of burying a body. Both descend from "sepelire," the Latin verb meaning "to bury." The Latin noun "sepultura" gave rise to the French form that English borrowed, while "sepulchrum," a closely related noun from the same verb, gave us "sepulchre." Because the two were borrowed at different times and through different routes, they settled into different senses, one architectural and sacred, the other practical and legal. Today "sepulture" is uncommon and mostly appears in formal or historical writing.

Synonyms: burial, interment, entombment

Antonyms: exhumation