Funeral Terms and Descriptions
Casket or Coffin
A box or chest for burying remains.
Cemetery Property
A grave, crypt or niche.
Cemetery Services
Opening and closing graves, crypts or niches; setting grave liners and vaults; setting markers; and long-term maintenance of cemetery grounds and facilities.
Columbarium
A structure with niches (small spaces) for placing cremated remains in urns or other approved containers. It may be outdoors or part of a mausoleum.
Cremation
Exposing remains and the container encasing them to extreme heat and flame and processing the resulting bone fragments to a uniform size and consistency.
Crypt
A space in a mausoleum or other building to hold cremated or whole remains.
Disposition
The placement of cremated or whole remains in their final resting place.
Entombment
Burial in a mausoleum.
Funeral Ceremony
A service commemorating the deceased, with the body present.
Funeral Services
Services provided by a funeral director and staff, which may include consulting with the family on funeral planning; transportation, shelter, refrigeration and embalming of remains; preparing and filing notices; obtaining authorizations and permits; and coordinating with the cemetery, crematory or other third parties.
Grave
A space in the ground in a cemetery for the burial of remains.
Grave Liner or Outer Container
A concrete cover that fits over a casket in a grave. Some liners cover tops and sides of the casket. Others, referred to as vaults, completely enclose the casket. Grave liners minimize ground settling.
Graveside Service
A service to commemorate the deceased held at the cemetery before burial.
Interment
Burial in the ground, inurnment or entombment.
Inurnment
The placing of cremated remains in an urn.
Mausoleum
A building in which remains are buried or entombed.
Memorial Service
A ceremony commemorating the deceased, without the body present.
Niche
A space in a columbarium, mausoleum or niche wall to hold an urn.
Urn
A container to hold cremated remains. It can be placed in a columbarium or mausoleum, or buried in the ground.
Vault
A grave liner that completely encloses a casket.
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