Meaning & use
interred
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“interred” is a form of “inter”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
verbtransitive
Put a dead body into a grave or tomb in a funeral ceremony.
Grammar: Takes an object, and the passive is common: the king was interred in the abbey.
Patterns
- be interred in something
- inter someone beside someone
The poet was interred in the village churchyard beside his wife.
Soldiers interred the fallen with full honors.
Several kings are interred beneath the cathedral floor.
Word forms
| third person singular | inters |
|---|---|
| past tense | interred |
| past participle | interred |
| -ing form | interring |
Common combinations
- interred in
- He was interred in the family plot.
- interred beside
- She was interred beside her parents.
- interred with honors
- The general was interred with full military honors.
- later interred
- The remains were later interred at sea.
- quietly interred
- The author was quietly interred after a private service.
Synonyms and how they differ
- buried
- Buried is the everyday word and can apply to anything covered in earth, while interred is formal and used only for the dead.
- entombed
- Entombed stresses placing in a tomb or vault, not in plain earth.
- laid to rest
- Laid to rest is a gentle, indirect phrase, whereas interred is plain and official.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: interred or interned?
interred vs interned
Interned means held as a prisoner or detainee, usually in wartime, while interred means buried.
Practice
After the ceremony, the late mayor was ___ in the town cemetery.
Choose one answer.
Interred means buried, which suits a cemetery. Interned is the tempting confusable word that means detained.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “interred”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.