Meaning & use
interment
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Meaning
nouncountable or uncountable
The formal act of burying a dead body, often during a funeral ceremony.
Grammar: Often singular with the for a specific burial; the general practice is uncountable.
Patterns
- private interment
- interment ceremony
- the interment of someone
- interment at sea
The interment took place at the family cemetery after a short service.
They requested a private interment with only close relatives present.
Naval traditions include interment at sea for some sailors.
Common combinations
- private interment
- The notice announced a private interment for immediate family only.
- interment ceremony
- The interment ceremony included music and readings.
- interment at sea
- The sailor chose interment at sea in his final wishes.
Synonyms and how they differ
- burial
- The everyday word; interment is more formal and ceremonial.
- entombment
- Means placing in a tomb, so it is narrower than interment.
- committal
- Often the religious or legal moment when the body is committed to the grave.
- inhumation
- Technical term for burial in the ground, rare in conversation.
Word family
Commonly confused: interment or internment?
interment vs internment
Interment is burial; internment is forced imprisonment or confinement during wartime or emergency.
Practice
After the funeral service came the ___ of the coffin at the cemetery.
Choose one answer.
Interment means formal burial. Internment means imprisonment, while interlude and interval are breaks in time and do not fit burial.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “interment”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.