sepulchre(n = noun.artifact) burial chamber, sepulcher, sepulture - a chamber that is used as a grave;
is a kind of chamber, grave, tomb
has particulars: crypt, mausoleum, monument, repository, burial vault, vault, holy sepulcher, holy sepulchre
Derived forms adjective sepulchral3, adjective sepulchral1
The place in which the dead body of a human being is interred, or a place set apart for that purpose; a grave; a tomb. [1913 Webster]
"The stony entrance of this sepulcher." [1913 Webster]
"The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher." [1913 Webster]
To bury; to inter; to entomb; as, obscurely sepulchered. [1913 Webster]
"And so sepulchered in such pomp dost lie
That kings for such a tomb would wish to die." [1913 Webster]
sepulchre, n. & v. (US sepulcher)
--n. a tomb esp. cut in rock or built of stone or brick, a burial vault or cave.
--v.tr.
1 lay in a sepulchre.
2 serve as a sepulchre for.
Idiom:
the Holy Sepulchre the tomb in which Christ was laid. whited sepulchre a hypocrite (with ref. to Matt. 23:27).
Etymology:
ME f. OF f. L sepulc(h)rum f. sepelire sepult- bury