And leave the shenanigans for your Halloween decorations, not an actual burial site. Whichever term you use, just make sure you’re being respectful when you visit a cemetery or graveyard. Author carl Posted on 6th April 2018 30th May 2021 Categories cremation, funeral Tags burials, funerals. You’re also more likely to see large, modern family plots in a cemetery. Another subtle difference between a graveyard and a cemetery is that people’s bodies are buried in graveyards whereas in a cemetery, it is possible to bury an individual’s ashes as well. Of course, the word cemetery did not appear out of the blue. However, you might be surprised to hear that grave comes from Proto-Germanic graban, meaning to dig, and it is related to groove but not to gravel. Cemeteries are also generally newer, better maintained, and more neatly divided into rows of plots. The origin of graveyard is rather obvious it is a yard filled with graves. These sites are smaller and often aren’t particularly well manicured.Ĭemeteries tend to be much larger, as they are not simply a section of church property. They typically have older tombstones placed around the area in a somewhat disorderly manner. Indeed, graveyard tends to evoke images of old churchyards in the English countryside. Looking beyond the religious aspect, there are visual differences. Some cemeteries have religious affiliations, but they’re generally not tied to a specific place of worship. So if linguistic precision is your jam, then you’ll want to say “graveyard” when referring to a resting place on church grounds and “cemetery” in reference to more modern, separate burial grounds. This practice continued for many centuries. Less wealthy congregants were buried outside in the churchyard, and that section came to be known as the graveyard.
A graveyard is an area of land, often next to a church, where people are buried.ĭuring the Middle Ages, wealthy or otherwise influential Christians were generally interred inside a church after they died, often in a crypt beneath the floor. (b) cemetery means land that is set apart or used as a place for the burial of human remains and, for greater certainty, includes all tombstones, gravemarkers. To understand the difference between a graveyard and a cemetery, start by taking a look at the definitions of each term. But is there any difference between the two terms? Below, we break it down. Indeed, people tend to use use the words “graveyard” and “cemetery” interchangeably. While some might refer to this as graveyard decor, others go with cemetery. (Photo: Capchure via Getty Images)ĭuring Halloween season, it’s not uncommon to see your neighbors’ front yards adorned with fake tombstones and ghosts. There are technical differences between graveyards and cemeteries.