323 4.4 Terms

Temporary Grave Marker

A non-permanent grave marker which identifies where an individual is buried.

Green Cemetery

A place of interment that bans the use of metal caskets, toxic embalming, and concrete vaults and may also require the use of aesthetically natural monuments.

Cemetery Tent

A portable shelter employed to cover the grave area during the committal; also known as Canopy.

Canopy

A portable shelter employed to cover the grave area during the committal; also known as Cemetery Tent.

Alkaline Hydrolysis

A process that uses water, alkaline chemicals, heat and sometimes pressure and agitation, to accelerate natural decomposition, leaving bone fragments; a form of final disposition.

Niche

A recess or space in a columbarium used for the permanent placing of cremated remains.

Receiving Vault

A structure designed for the temporary storage of bodies which are not to be immediately interred

Columbarium

A structure, room, or space in a mausoleum or other building containing niches or recesses used to hold cremated remains.

Block

A subdivision of a cemetery containing several lots.

Lot

A subdivision of a cemetery which consists of several grave spaces or interment spaces.

Cemetery

An area of ground set aside and dedicated for the final disposition of dead human remains.

Monument

An erection of stone or other material commemorating the life, deeds or career of some deceased person.

Grave

An excavation in the earth as a place for interment; interment space

Artificial Grass

An imitation of grass made in mat form and used at the cemetery to cover the earth around the grave.

Eulogy

An oration praising an individual, usually after death.

Catacombs

An underground cemetery for burial purposes. Originated in ancient Rome as excavated cemeteries cut out of soft rock for the tombs of wealthy Christians; later became a place for religious rites to avoid persecution.

Cadaver

Dead human body intended solely for scientific study and dissection.

Green Funeral

Death care that minimizes the use of energy in service offerings/products and that bans the use of toxic/hazardous materials.

Immediate Burial

Disposition of human remains by burial without formal viewing, visitation or ceremony with the deceased present, except for a graveside service.

Green Burial

Disposition without the use of toxic chemicals or materials that re not readily biodegradable.

Environmentally Friendly

Eco-friendly approach that utilizes products, services and merchandise that are free of toxic/hazardous materials, are biodegradable or that minimize use of energy.

Green

Eco-friendly approach that utilizes products, services and merchandise that are free of toxic/hazardous materials, are biodegradable or that minimize use of energy.

Honorary Casket Bearer

Friends of the family or members of an organization or group who act as an escort or honor guard for the deceased, they do not carry the casket; also known as Honorary Pallbearers.

Memorial Service

Funeral rites without the remains present.

Corpse

Legal term for a dead human body.

Lowering Device

Mechanical device used to lower a casket into the ground.

Home Funeral

One that takes place within the residence of the deceased as was commonly done in the United States until the mid-20th century.

Casket Bearer

One who actively bears or carries the casket during the funeral service and at the committal service; also known as Pallbearer.

Sexton

One who is in charge of the cemetery; the caretaker of a church.

Inurnment

Placing cremated remains in an urn. CANA definition: The act of placing cremated remains in a niche or grave.

Internment

The act of placing the dead human body in the ground;

Burial

The act of placing the dead human body in the ground; also known as Inhumement or Interment.

Retort

The burning chamber in a crematory, also referred to as the crematory; the total mechanical unit for the cremation process.

Natural Organic Reduction

The contained, accelerated decomposition of human remains.

Cryonics

The freezing and storing of human remains for possible restoration in life in the future.

Section

The largest subdivision of a cemetery.

Entombment

The placing of a human remains into a crypt in a mausoleum.

Committal Service

The portion of a funeral service conducted at the place of disposition.

Cortege

The procession of vehicles from the place of the funeral to the place of interment; also known as Funeral Procession or Procession.

Cremation

The reduction of a dead human body to inorganic bone fragments by intense heat in a specifically designed retort or chamber

Funeral Service

The rites held a the time of disposition of human remains, with the deceased present; also known as Funeral Ceremony.

Inter (Inhume)

To bury in the ground; also known as Inhume.

Disinter

To remove from the grave or tomb; to dig up; exhume.

Grave Straps

Webbing or similar material used for lowering the casket into the grave.

Memorial Park

A cemetery, or section of a cemetery, with only flush to the ground type markers.

Graveside Service

A ceremony or ritual, religious or otherwise, conducted at the grave.

Crypt

A chamber in a mausoleum used to safeguard casketed human remains.

Epitaph

A commemorative inscription on a tomb or cemetery marker.

Lectern

A desk so designed to facilitate the delivery of a lecture or sermon.

Direct Cremation

A disposition of human remains by cremation without formal viewing, visitation or ceremony with the deceased present

Burial at sea

A form of disposition, following the appropriate rules and regulations, in which the deceased is placed in a body of water, such as an ocean. Requirements included 3 nautical miles from shore, a water depth of 600 feet, the container of the deceased is sufficiently weighted so it does not float and the containers has holes drilled in it to allow it to sink.

Traditional Funeral

A funeral rite that follows a prescribed ritual or ceremony which may be dictated either by religious belief or social custom.

Adaptive Funeral

A funeral rite that is adjusted to the needs and wants of those directly involved; altered to suit the trends of the times.

Humanistic Funeral

A funeral rite that is in essence devoid of religious connotation.

Non- Traditional Funeral

A funeral rite which deviates from the normal or prescribed circumstances of established custom.

Primitive Funeral

A funeral rite which may be construed as being identifiable with a pre-literate society.

Crematory (Crematorium)

A furnace or retort for cremating dead human bodies; a building that houses a retort.

Tomb

A general term designating those places suitable for the reception of a dead human body.

Plot

A group of grave spaces which are purchased under one title. The spaces (graves) in the plot, though usually side-by-side, may or may not be from the same section, block, or lot.

Cenotaph

A monument erected to the memory of the dead, with the human remains not present.

Elegy

A mournful poem or song of lamentation for the dead.

Mausoleum

A building containing crypts or vaults for entombment.

Chapel

A building or designated area of a building in which services are conducted.