crematorium

noun

cre·​ma·​to·​ri·​um ˌkrē-mə-ˈtȯr-ē-əm 

ˌkre-

plural crematoria ˌkrē-mə-ˈtȯr-ē-ə 

ˌkre-

or crematoriums

: an establishment or structure in which the bodies of the dead are cremated

He had two funerals in the morning, both bodies due for the crematorium afterward …

—Jack Higgins

The depositions enabled the commission to gather further evidence from coroners and from the files in morgues, mortuaries and crematoriums.

—Alfred Stepan

Examples of crematorium in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

His final stop before liberation was the cold crematorium, where the Nazis stacked prisoners in bunks just above their own excrement to die. —Lois K. Solomon, Sun Sentinel, 3 Feb. 2025

The scenes from crowded crematoriums and media reports of thousands dying for lack of the most essential of health resources have shocked the world. —Ramanan Laxminarayan, Foreign Affairs, 26 May 2021

The survivors told us about their parents and grandparents, their spouses, their siblings, their children, their friends, their neighbors who died of starvation in ghetto streets or of typhus in a concentration camp barrack, or whose corpses rose toward heaven from a crematorium. —Menachem Z. Rosensaft, TIME, 27 Jan. 2025

Chinese hospitals and crematoriums are not overwhelmed. —Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 10 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1880, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

crematorium

noun

cre·​ma·​to·​ri·​um ˌkrē-mə-ˈtōr-ē-əm 

ˌkrem-ə-,

-ˈtȯr-

plural crematoriums or crematoria -ē-ə 

: crematory entry 1

Medical Definition

crematorium

noun

cre·​ma·​to·​ri·​um ˌkrē-mə-ˈtōr-ē-əm, ˌkrem-ə-, -ˈtȯr- 

plural crematoriums or crematoria -ē-ə 

: crematory