What does cerement mean?
A cerement is a wax-treated cloth or garment in which a dead body is wrapped for burial, a practice associated especially with ancient Egyptian mummification, where layers of resin-soaked linen encased the corpse. The word appears almost exclusively in its plural form, "cerements," which can refer both literally to such burial wrappings and, by extension, to any graveclothes. Figurative uses treat cerements as whatever entombs or weighs a person down, as in casting off the cerements of a former life. The term derives ultimately from the Latin "cera," meaning wax, reflecting the waxed nature of these cloths. It entered English in the seventeenth century and gained lasting visibility through Shakespeare, who uses it in Julius Caesar. Today it survives chiefly in literary, historical, and archaeological writing rather than everyday speech, lending any passage in which it appears a deliberately archaic, solemn tone appropriate to themes of death and burial.
nounA waxen wrapping or shroud in which a corpse was bound for burial; more generally, any graveclothes or burial garments.
- A wax-treated cloth or shroud wrapped around a body for burial, especially in antiquity or in mummification rites.
- (By extension, usually plural) Any graveclothes or burial wrappings; figuratively, anything that entombs or confines like a shroud.
"The archaeologists carefully peeled back the brittle cerements to reveal the mummified remains beneath."
"The embalmers bound the body in layers of cerement soaked with resins and wax."
"He shook off the cerements of his old life and began again."
The plural is the overwhelmingly dominant form in actual usage, even when referring to a single set of wrappings.
"They lifted the mummy still encased in its ancient cerements."
Before modern embalming, the dead were sealed in wax-soaked linen called cerements — and Shakespeare put the word on stage in Julius Caesar.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cerement
Cerement comes ultimately from the Latin "cera," meaning wax, via an Old French form referring to waxed cloth; it entered English in the early seventeenth century. It originally denoted specifically a wax-coated wrapping for corpses, echoing ancient burial customs such as Egyptian mummification. It shares that Latin root with rarer words like "cerate" (a waxy medicinal preparation) and "ceraceous" (waxy), though none are common today.
How cerement is actually used
Almost always encountered in the plural ("cerements"); the singular "cerement" is rare. The word belongs to formal, literary, or archaeological registers and carries a solemn, funerary connotation.
Easily confused with cerement
"Cement" is a binding material used in construction, whereas "cerement" is a waxed cloth used to wrap a corpse.