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Everyday LifeGreekEnglish

Cemetery

A burial ground.

The Greek roots

κοιμητήριον
koimētḗrion
sleeping place

Literally: a dormitory

The story of the word

A gentle euphemism: from koimân, 'to put to sleep' — the cemetery is, softly, a 'sleeping-place'.

The same roots elsewhere

Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.

In a sentence

The old cemetery lay quiet beneath the yews.

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