A mausoleum is a building which contains the grave of a famous person or the graves of a rich family.
Synonyms: crypt, tomb, vault, catacomb More Synonyms of mausoleum
mausoleum in British English
(ˌmɔːsəˈlɪəm)
nounWord forms: plural-leums or -lea (-ˈlɪə)
a large stately tomb
Derived forms
mausolean (ˌmausoˈlean)
adjective
Word origin
C16: via Latin from Greek mausōleion, the tomb of Mausolus, king of Caria; built at Halicarnassus in the 4th century bc
Mausoleum in American English
(ˌmɔsəˈliəm; ˌ mɑsəˈliəm; ˌmɔzəˈliəm)
nounWord forms: pluralˌmausoˈleums
1.
the tomb of Mausolus, king of Caria, at Halicarnassus: included among the seven wonders of the ancient world
2. [m-]
a large, imposing tomb
, humorously applied to any large, somber building or room
3. [m-]
a building with vaults for the entombment of a number of bodies
Derived forms
mausolean (ˌmausoˈlean) (ˌmɔsəˈliən; ˌmɔzəliən)
adjective
Word origin
L < Gr Mausōleion
Examples of 'mausoleum' in a sentence
mausoleum
It had evidently been a royal mausoleum.
Eric Newby A BOOK OF LANDS AND PEOPLES (2003)
There would have to have been a change of plan, with the family mausoleum growing room by room from the original chamber designed for the pharaoh himself.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
(noun)
Definition
a large stately tomb
Her tomb lies in the great mausoleum under a slab of jade.
Synonyms
crypt
people buried in the crypt of an old London church
tomb
the tomb of the Unknown Soldier
vault
He ordered that Matilda's body should be buried in the family vault.
catacomb
sepulchre
Death holds him in his sepulchre.
charnel house
burial chamber
Additional synonyms
in the sense of sepulchre
Definition
a burial vault, tomb, or grave
Death holds him in his sepulchre.
Synonyms
tomb,
grave,
vault,
mausoleum,
sarcophagus,
burial place
in the sense of tomb
Definition
a place for the burial of a corpse
the tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Synonyms
grave,
vault,
crypt,
mausoleum,
sarcophagus,
catacomb,
sepulchre,
burial chamber
in the sense of vault
Definition
an underground burial chamber
He ordered that Matilda's body should be buried in the family vault.