What does columbarium mean?
A columbarium is a structure designed to hold the cremated remains of the dead, typically consisting of walls of small recessed compartments called niches, each of which houses one or more funerary urns. The word derives from the Latin columbarium, meaning 'dovecote' — the ancient Romans built similar tiered structures to house pigeons, and the resemblance of the burial niches to pigeonholes gave the modern memorial its name. Today columbaria are found in cemeteries, churches, crematoria, and memorial gardens, offering families a permanent, often more affordable alternative to traditional burial plots. Closely related terms include the ossuary, which stores bones rather than ashes, and the mausoleum, which entombs whole bodies. In historical and archaeological writing, the word also appears in its original sense, describing Roman dovecotes or the vast underground ash-vaults of antiquity, such as those lining the Appian Way.
A structure or room containing recessed niches for the storage of funerary urns holding cremated human remains.
"The cemetery dedicated a new outdoor columbarium with space for two thousand urns."
The traditional plural is columbaria; columbariums is also standard.
(Historical) A compartmentalized shelter for keeping domestic pigeons or doves; a dovecote.
"Visitors can still see the ruined Roman columbarium where thousands of birds once nested."
The Latinate plural 'columbaria' predominates in formal, architectural, and academic writing; 'columbariums' is fully acceptable in general usage.
"Several historic columbaria in Rome are open to visitors."
The Romans named their ash-vaults after pigeon coops — because rows of burial niches looked exactly like nesting holes carved for doves.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of columbarium
The word comes from the Latin columbarium, meaning 'dovecote', itself derived from columba, 'dove'. The Romans applied the term both to pigeonhouses and, from the late Republican period onward, to subterranean burial chambers whose rows of ash-niches resembled pigeonholes. English adopted the word in the seventeenth century, initially in reference to classical dovecotes and ruins, and it gradually became the standard term for modern structures housing cremated remains as cremation spread in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Its Latin root columba also gives English the flower name columbine.
How columbarium is actually used
The word carries a solemn, formal register and is most often encountered in funeral, cemetery, ecclesiastical, and archaeological contexts. The Latin-style plural 'columbaria' is common in formal and scholarly writing, while 'columbariums' is widely accepted in everyday use.
Easily confused with columbarium
An ossuary holds skeletal bones, whereas a columbarium holds urns of cremated ashes in individual niches.
A mausoleum houses whole bodies in tombs or sarcophagi, while a columbarium is specifically for cremated remains.