What does reinterment mean?
Reinterment is the formal noun for the act of burying a body or remains again. It is especially associated with the exhumation and reburial of human remains, whether because a grave has been relocated, a legal order has changed, or a family has chosen a different funeral arrangement. The term can also describe a second ceremonial burial of remains that were temporarily stored or moved. Reinterment differs from interment, which generally refers to the act of burial itself without implying that this is a second burial. While the word is precise and useful in historical, legal, religious, and archaeological writing, reburial is more common in general conversation. Its strongest connotations are solemnity, finality, and the restoration of a proper burial place.
nounThe act of burying again, especially the reburial of remains in a new place or according to a new arrangement. It may also refer to the second burial itself.
- The act of burying a body or remains again, especially after exhumation or temporary removal.
- A second burial conducted with formal ceremony or according to a changed legal, religious, or family arrangement.
"The family held a quiet ceremony for the reinterment of the remains in the village cemetery."
"The court approved the reinterment of the exhumed remains in a new cemetery."
"After years in storage, the bones were reinterred beside the remains of their ancestors."
The plural is used for separate acts of reburial, as when several groups of remains are reinterred in different locations.
"The reinterments took place at two separate cemeteries."
Reinterment turns burial into a second chapter: the remains return to the earth, but in a different place, ritual, or story.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does reinterment come from?
Reinterment is formed from the prefix re-, meaning again, and interment, meaning burial. Interment comes from the verb inter, ultimately from Latin inter, “to place between” or “to bury,” in the sense of putting a body into a grave. The prefixed form reinterment developed to express the specific act of burial a second time, often following exhumation or the temporary removal of remains.
Related word forms
How reinterment is actually used
A formal word, most often used in legal, historical, religious, or cemetery contexts. In ordinary speech, reburial is often more natural.
Easily confused with reinterment
Interment means burial, usually the first burial of a body, whereas reinterment means burying again after the body or remains have already been buried or removed.
Exhumation is the removal of a body or remains from a grave, while reinterment is the subsequent burial of those remains.