Sepulchre (noun)
*1 : a place of burial : tomb
2 : a receptacle for religious relics especially in an altar
Example Sentence: "The distant noises in the streets were gradually hushed; the house was quiet as a sepulchre; the dead of night was coffined in the silent city." (Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit)
Did you know?: "Sepulchre" (also spelled "sepulcher") first appeared in Middle English around the beginning of the 13th century. It was originally spelled "sepulcre," a spelling taken from Anglo-French. Like many words borrowed into English from French, "sepulchre" has roots in Latin. In Latin, "sepulchre" is "sepulcrum," a noun that is derived from the verb "sepelire," which means "to bury." "Sepultus," the past participle of "sepelire," gives us -- also by way of Anglo-French -- the related noun "sepulture," which is a synonym for "burial" and "sepulchre."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
Merriam-Webster Word of the Day
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