sepulchre

UK: /ˈsɛpəlkə/ US: (sep′əl kər)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

sep•ul•chre  (sep′əl kər), n., v.t., -chred, -chring. [Chiefly Brit.]

1. British Terms sepulcher.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

sepulchre, sepulcher / ˈsɛpəlkə/ noun

1. a burial vault, tomb, or grave
2. Also called: Easter sepulchre a separate alcove in some medieval churches in which the Eucharistic elements were kept from Good Friday until the Easter ceremonies

verb

1. (transitive) to bury in a sepulchre

Etymology: 12th Century: from Old French sépulcre, from Latin sepulcrum, from sepelīre to bury

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

sep•ul•cher /ˈsɛpəlkɚ/   n. [countable]

1. a tomb or grave.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

sep•ul•cher  (sep′əl kər), n. 

1. a tomb, grave, or burial place.
2. Religion Also called Easter sepulcher. [Eccles.]
   • a cavity in a mensa for containing relics of martyrs.
   • Religion a structure or a recess in some old churches in which the Eucharist was deposited with due ceremonies on Good Friday and taken out at Easter in commemoration of Christ's entombment and Resurrection.

v.t. 

3. to place in a sepulcher* bury.

Also,[esp. Brit.,] sepulchre. 

• Latin sepulcrum, equivalent. to sepul- (variant stem of sepelīre to bury) + -crum noun, nominal suffix of place
• Old French
• Middle English sepulcre 1150–1200

Synonyms

• 1. vault, mausoleum, crypt.