A graveyard (from Old English graf "pit"; yairden "garden, open place") is any place set aside for long-term burial of the dead, with or without monuments such as headstones.
In countries with a Christian tradition it is usually located near and administered by a church. From the early 19th century, new burying grounds were frequently founded as cemeteries, which are burying grounds that are separate from a church or parish.
Read more about Graveyard: Origins and Class Distinctions, Graveyards Replaced By Cemeteries, Burial in Graveyards After The 19th Century, Present Status
Famous quotes containing the word graveyard:
“I see those two hearts, I’m afraid,
Still. Cool here in the graveyard of good and evil,
They are even so to be honored and obeyed.”
—James Merrill (b. 1926)
“Since the last one in a graveyard is believed to be the next one fated to die, funerals often end in a mad scramble.”
—Administration in the State of Texa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“We thought it would be worth the while to read the epitaphs where so many were lost at sea; however, as not only their lives, but commonly their bodies also, were lost or not identified, there were fewer epitaphs of this sort than we expected, though there were not a few. Their graveyard is the ocean.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)