Meaning & use
re-interment
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Meaning
nouncountable or uncountableformal
The act of burying a dead body again, especially in a different place.
Grammar: Can be countable ('a re-interment') or uncountable ('the re-interment took place').
Patterns
- the re-interment of someone
- a re-interment ceremony
- a re-interment takes place
The re-interment of the soldier took place with full military honors.
The family requested a private re-interment in their hometown.
After the cemetery was moved, many re-interments were necessary.
Word forms
| plural | re-interments |
|---|
Common combinations
- re-interment ceremony
- A re-interment ceremony was held at the national cemetery.
- the re-interment of remains
- The re-interment of remains from the old grave site was handled with care.
- a formal re-interment
- The government arranged a formal re-interment for the fallen soldiers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- second burial
- A less formal term, sometimes used in anthropology for the practice of burying someone again.
Word family
Commonly confused: re-interment or internment?
re-interment vs internment
This means being put in prison or a camp during a war, not burial. The spelling is different: internment (with an 'n' after 'inter').
Practice
The ______ of the president's remains took place in his home village.
Choose one answer.
The sentence is about burying the remains again, so 're-interment' is correct. 'Internment' means being held as a prisoner, and 'interment' would mean burying for the first time.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “re-interment”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.