Dictionary

cremate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɹimeɪt/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /kɹəˈmeɪt/ (Australia)
• /kɹɪˈmeɪt/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

First attested in 1889; borrowed from Latin cremātus, perfect passive participle of cremō (“to burn to ashes; to cremate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To burn something to ashes.
2. (transitive) To incinerate a dead body (as an alternative to burial).
   • I want to be cremated when I die.
   • “You didn’t bury Dad. You burned him.” “We cremated him, Benny. For humans, the word is cremated. And we chose to do that because that’s what they do in Japan.” 2021, Ruth Ozeki, The Book of Form and Emptiness, Canongate Books (2022), page 422:

Forms

Deriveds

cremains · noncremated · incremate · cremator · uncremated · crematory

Relateds

crematorium · cremation

Synonyms

cremate · forsweal · cinder · char up · burn up · burn away · burn · torch · burn down · burn to a crisp · scathe · burn away · forburn · combure · cinder · incinerate · combust

Translations (62)

sv bränna (burn to ashes) · sv kremera (incinerate a body) · fi polttaa tuhkaksi (burn to ashes) · ca incinerar (burn to ashes) · bg кремирам (incinerate a body) · fr crématiser (incinerate a body) · da kremere (incinerate a body) · nn kremere (incinerate a body) · it incinerare (incinerate a body) · hu elhamvaszt (burn to ashes) · es incinerar (burn to ashes) · ru испепеля́ть (burn to ashes) · mi whakapungarehu (incinerate a body) · ru испепели́ть (burn to ashes) · pl kremować (incinerate a body) · io kremacar (burn to ashes) · it cremare (incinerate a body) · km បូជាសព (incinerate a body) · fi polttohaudata (incinerate a body) · ja 火葬する (incinerate a body) · nn kremera (incinerate a body) · th เผา (incinerate a body) · pt cremar (burn to ashes) · ru сжига́ть (burn to ashes) · nl cremeren (incinerate a body) · vi hoả táng (incinerate a body) · hu hamvaszt (burn to ashes) · ro incinera (incinerate a body) · eo kremacii (incinerate a body) · mi whakapungarehu (burn to ashes) · ca incinerar (incinerate a body) · fr incinérer (incinerate a body) · ro incinera (burn to ashes) · nb kremere (incinerate a body) · ga créam (incinerate a body) · fi krematoida (incinerate a body) · km បូជា (incinerate a body) · ru креми́ровать (incinerate a body) · bg изгарям (incinerate a body) · pl skremować (incinerate a body) · cy amlosgi (incinerate a body) · hu elhamvaszt (incinerate a body) · de einäschern (burn to ashes) · da brænde (burn to ashes) · es incinerar (incinerate a body) · tr yakmak (incinerate a body) · la cremō (burn to ashes) · th เผา (burn to ashes) · ru сжечь (burn to ashes) · fr incinérer (burn to ashes) · io kremacar (incinerate a body) · hi अग्निदाह (incinerate a body) · cmn 焚化 (incinerate a body) · mi tahu tūpāpaku (incinerate a body) · th ฌาปนกิจ (incinerate a body) · de kremieren (incinerate a body) · pt cremar (incinerate a body) · cmn 焚毀 /焚毁 (burn to ashes) · bg изпепелявам (burn to ashes) · he שרף גווייה (incinerate a body) · hi दाह (burn to ashes) · nl verassen (burn to ashes)