Skip to main content
churchyard

churchyard

12 3.5
An area of land next to a church for burying people
  • noun
  • /ˈtʃɜːrʧjɑːrd/
translation icon : cementerio de la iglesia
  • The dead of the town are buried in the churchyard or in small family plots.
  • churchyard cemetery

Paul's Church was, and the Saint Paul churchyard near the border of Wales and Delafield where where we lived, where we had our house, where I grew up.

Examples

  • Then they buried her in unhallowed ground, probably outside the churchyard walls.

  • You're not afraid to cross the churchyard alone, are you?

  • We found the remains, buried in the churchyard.

  • On this side of the lake, he can see the churchyard, where he will soon be resting.

    Academic text (1996)
  • A tree stood by the gate to the churchyard, and Margery stopped and placed her hand on the trunk.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Mr. Pecksniff, being out walking by himself, took it into his head to stray into the churchyard.

    Academic text (2010)
  • Caz and Chris carry record cases through the churchyard to the nearby sidestreet.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • We are in a churchyard by Wall Street; a thunderstorm is brewing as five o'clock rolls around.

    Academic text (2009)
  • Some days later, they found Tony's grave in the churchyard near Benjie’s weekend cottage in Suffolk.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • We found the remains, buried in the churchyard.

Synonyms

cemetery
vschurchyard
421 2.8

A place where people are buried, often with headstones

is the church-adjoining burial area rather than the typically outer-city location
graveyard
vschurchyard
122 1.8

A place where people are buried after they die

is specifically the land next to a church and part of its grounds
burial ground
vschurchyard
21 3.9

A place where people are buried, like a cemetery

is the specific area adjoining a church rather than any burial land
burial site
vschurchyard
11 3.7

A place where people bury their dead

is the continuous ground next to a church rather than any burial location
burying ground
vschurchyard
  • Archaic
1 6.1

An area of land with graves for dead people, like a cemetery

is the church-adjacent area rather than a general burial location
kirkyard
vschurchyard
  • UK
1 9.9

A yard next to a church with graves, often in Scotland or Northern England

is the standard, nonregional term rather than a local dialect form
God's acre
vschurchyard
  • Archaic
9.9

A piece of land by a church used for burying people

is the neutral, everyday name rather than a poetic religious phrase

How Big

cemetery
421 2.8
graveyard
122 1.8
churchyard
12 3.5

Surface Forms

churchyard singular
churchyards plural

Morphology

churchyard = church + yard (transparent) = church + yard

The meaning is directly the yard/area belonging to or adjoining a church, which is straightforward for learners.

Etymology

Churchyard is simply made of church and yard, where yard comes from an old English idea of an 'enclosed ground' and is the same idea as a backyard. So a churchyard is the enclosed ground next to a church, often used as a 'place for graves'.