Funeral Terminology Glossary
Understanding funeral terminology can make planning decisions feel less overwhelming. This glossary provides definitions of commonly used funeral, burial, cremation, and memorial service terms to help you navigate the process with greater confidence.
Burial: A means of final disposition in which the body is placed in a casket or other container and buried in the ground.
Burial Vault: A lined and sealed outer container, typically made of metal or concrete, that encloses a casket. Burial vaults help protect the casket and may be required by some cemeteries.
Casket: A rigid container, typically made of wood or metal, used for the viewing, burial, or entombment of the deceased.
Cemetery: An area of land dedicated to burial, entombment, or inurnment of human remains.
Chapel Service: A funeral service held in a chapel, such as a funeral home chapel, cemetery chapel, or other dedicated facility.
Clergy: A religious leader, such as a minister, priest, rabbi, imam, or other faith representative.
Columbarium: A structure, room, or wall designed to hold cremated remains.
Cremains: Cremated remains, commonly referred to as ashes, that remain after the cremation process. Cremains are primarily composed of processed bone fragments.
Cremation: A means of final disposition using intense heat to reduce the body to bone fragments, which are then processed into cremains.
Crypt: A chamber within a mausoleum used to hold casketed remains of the deceased.
Death Notice: A brief announcement in a newspaper, online publication, or other medium informing the public of a person's death. A death notice typically includes basic biographical details and service details.
Entombment: A means of final disposition in which the casketed remains of the deceased are placed in a crypt within a mausoleum.
Epitaph: An inscription on a gravestone, monument, or memorial that commemorates the deceased.
Eulogy: A speech delivered at a funeral or memorial service that honors and reflects on the life of the deceased.
Funeral Celebrant: A trained professional who works with families to create and officiate a personalized funeral or memorial service.
Funeral Director: A licensed professional who assists families and guides them through the process of making funeral arrangements.
Grave: A place in the ground in which a deceased person is buried.
Graveside Service: A funeral service held at or near the grave of the deceased.
Interment: The placement of a deceased person's remains in their final resting place, such as a grave, crypt, or niche.
Inurnment: The placement of cremated remains in an urn and their permanent placement in a grave, columbarium niche, mausoleum, or other location.
Mausoleum: An above-ground structure containing crypts for the entombment of casketed remains. Mausoleums may also include niches for cremated remains.
Memorial Park: A cemetery or section of a cemetery that permits only flat, ground-level memorial markers rather than upright monuments.
Memorial Service: A service held to honor and remember the deceased where the body is not present.
Memorialization: The act of honoring and preserving the memory of a deceased person through memorials, monuments, ceremonies, keepsakes, or other forms of remembrance.
Niche: A recess or space in a columbarium used for the permanent placement of cremated remains.
Obituary: A written notice announcing a person's death that typically includes details about their life, surviving family members, and funeral or memorial service information.
Perpetual (Endowed) Care: A cemetery maintenance program in which funds are set aside and invested to help provide ongoing care and upkeep of the cemetery.
Pre-Need Funeral Planning: The process of making funeral, memorial, and disposition arrangements in advance. Pre-need planning helps document preferences, clarify available options, and reduce the decision-making burden on loved ones.
Scattering Garden: A section in a cemetery set aside for the scattering of cremated remains.
Urn: A container designed to hold and protect cremated remains.
Visitation: A gathering before the funeral service where family and friends pay their respects to the deceased and offer condolences to the family.