sepulture

See also: sépulture

English

Etymology

From Middle English sepulture, sepultur, from Old French sepulture, from Latin sepultura.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛpəɫt͡ʃ ə(ɹ)/, /ˈsɛpəɫˌt͡ʃ ʊə(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

sepulture (countable and uncountable, plural sepultures)

1. (uncountable) The act of sepulchring, committing the remains of a deceased person to the grave or sepulchre.
   • 1720, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, “Book XXII”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume VI, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, pages 22–23, lines 426–432:

     By thy own Soul! by thoſe who gave thee Breath!
     By all the ſacred Prevalence of Pray'r;
     Ah, leave me not for Grecian Dogs to tear!
     The common Rites of Sepulture beſtow,
     To ſooth a Father's and a Mother's Woe;
     Let their large Gifts procure an Urn at leaſt,
     And Hector⁠'s Ashes in his Country reſt.

2. (archaic) Alternative form of sepulchre.

Synonyms

• (act of sepulchring): interment

Derived terms

• sepultural

Verb

sepulture (third-person singular simple present sepultures, present participle sepulturing, simple past and past participle sepultured)

1. (transitive) To inter in a sepulture.

Latin

Participle

sepultūre

1. vocative masculine singular of sepultūrus