WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Bur"i*al
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [OE. buriel, buriels, grave, tomb, AS. byrgels, fr. byrgan to bury, and akin to OS. burgisli sepulcher.]
Definition : 1. A grave; a tomb; a place of sepulture. [Obs.] The erthe schook, and stoones weren cloven, and biriels weren opened. Wycliff [Matt. xxvii. 51, 52].

2. The act of burying; depositing a dead body in the earth, in a tomb or vault, or in the water, usually with attendant ceremonies; sepulture; interment. "To give a public burial." Shak. Now to glorious burial slowly borne. Tennyson. Burial case, a form of coffin, usually of iron, made to close air- tight, for the preservation of a dead body. -- Burial ground, a piece of ground selected and set apart for a place of buriials, and consecrated to such use by religious ceremonies. -- Burial place, any place where burials are made. -- Burial service. (a) The religious service performed at the interment of the dead; a funeral service. (b) That portion of a liturgy which is read at an interment; as, the English burial service.

Syn. -- Sepulture; interment; inhumation.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913