| A | B |
|---|
| burial | Placement of human remains in a grave. |
| burial park | A track of land intended for the ground burial of human remains. |
| canonization | The process by which a Church officially declares a dead person to be a saint. |
| casket | A receptacle in which the dead body is placed during the funeral and for burial. |
| catacombs | Underground burial sites of many early Christians, especially around Rome. |
| catafalque | An immovable platform upon which a casket is placed. |
| cemetery | A word that means “land of those who are sleeping.” According to the law, it is this if it contains six or more human bodies. |
| coffin | An obsolete term for a casket. |
| columbarium | A building, room, or other space containing niches for inurnment of cremated remains. |
| committal | The act of disposing of human remains by earth burial, mausoleum entombment, or columbarium inurnment. |
| cortege | A funeral procession with a casket. |
| cremains | Human remains after incineration |
| cremation | Burning the body of a deceased person; reducing the body of a deceased person to ashes. |
| crematory, crematorium | A building or structure containing a furnace to incinerate the bodies of deceased persons. |
| crypt | A space in a mausoleum in which casketed remains may be placed and sealed; the lower part of a church used for worship and/or burial. |
| bier | A movable platform or framework upon which a casket is placed for easy movement. |
| death notice | A paid notice in a newspaper announcing the death and funeral arrangements of a person. |
| disinterment | To dig up a grave for the purposes of identifying or moving human remains; to exhume. |
| ecclesiastical burial | Interment according to the rites of the Church. |
| embalming | The process of preparing a dead body for burial. During this process, body fluids are replaced with preserving chemicals. |
| entombment | Placement of human remains in a crypt or vault. |
| epitaph | The inscription on a tombstone or grave marker. |
| eulogy | A speech that praises an individual who has died. |
| flower car | A convertible or other specifically designed car that transports funeral flowers to and from the church and to the cemetery. |
| funeral director | Person who is licensed in the state in which he or she practices to arrange and conduct funeral ceremonies, rites and rituals. a.k.a. mortician, undertaker. |
| funeral home | A building designed for the preparation of the dead, the observance of wakes, visitations, and funerals. a.ka. mortuary |
| grave | Space of ground in a burial park, used for burial. |
| grave marker | A wood plank, heap of stones or boulder used to mark the site of a grave. |
| hearse | A vehicle for transporting the casket and remains. |
| indulgence | The remission before God of temporal punishment due for sins that a person (with the right attitude and actions) acquires through the intervention of the Church. |
| interment | A disposition of human remains by inurnment, entombment, earth burial or burial at sea. |
| interment plot | A space in a cemetery, intended for burial of human remains. A single plot may include more than one grave, crypt or vault. |
| inurnment | Placing cremated remains in an urn and placing it in a niche. |
| mass stipend | A monetary offering given to a priest to celebrate Mass for a certain intention. |
| mausoleum | A structure or building for entombment of casketed human remains in crypts or vaults. |
| memorial | A contribution that is made to a charitable organization or public cause in the memory of someone who has died. |
| niche | A space in a columbarium used for the inurnment of cremated human remains. |
| obituary | A newspaper column containing a biographical sketch of someone who has recently died. |
| ossuary | A container for the bones of the dead. |
| pall | A large white cloth that is placed over a casket as a reminder of Baptism and the white garment the person received at Baptism. |
| pallbearer | A person who helps carry the casket to and from its place in church and at the cemetery. |
| relic | A sacred object associated with a saint. |
| reliquary | A container for safeguarding and exhibiting the relics of saints |
| sarcophagus | An ornate and elaborate outer casket, usually made of granite, marble or heavy metal. The body may be placed directly inside it or the entire casket may be placed inside it. |
| shroud | A white sheet or robe-like garment that may be worn by the deceased. |
| tomb | A grave or space for the burial of the dead. |
| tombstone | A grave marker containing the name of the deceased, dates of birth and death and perhaps and epitaph. |
| visitation | Specified hours when friends or acquaintances pay their respects to the deceased and his or her family. |
| wake | A watch kept over the dead, which may take the form of a visitation, calling or Shiva. |
