Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A container or receptacle, such as an urn or a vault, for holding the bones of the dead.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A bone-cave, or deposit formed largely of bones, belonging to late geological times.
- noun A place where the bones of the dead are deposited; a charnel-house.
- noun A vase, casket, or other vessel for the reception of the bones or calcined remains of the dead.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun obsolete A place where the bones of the dead are deposited; a charnel house.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
container or receptacle, such as an urn or vault, for holding thebones of thedead .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any receptacle for the burial of human bones
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word ossuary.
Examples
-
Another interesting note about the ossuary is that if you want to take photos, you have to pay an additional fee.
Boing Boing: December 19, 2004 - December 25, 2004 Archives 2004
-
It turns out that the ossuary is from the correct era, archaeologists say, but the Aramaic inscription on its side - "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus" - was a relatively recent addition.
-
An 'ossuary' is a stone box in which bones previously laid out in rock-cut tombs, such as those in the Gospels, were placed after they were retrieved by relatives or followers.
Robert Eisenman: The James Ossuary: Is It Authentic? (An Update) Robert Eisenman 2011
-
An ossuary is a small stone receptacle built to hold the bones of family members.
God is Not a Christian, Nor a Jew, Muslim, Hindu … Carlton Pearson 2010
-
An ossuary is a small stone receptacle built to hold the bones of family members.
God is Not a Christian, Nor a Jew, Muslim, Hindu … Carlton Pearson 2010
-
An ossuary is a small stone receptacle built to hold the bones of family members.
God is Not a Christian, Nor a Jew, Muslim, Hindu … Carlton Pearson 2010
-
An ossuary is a small stone receptacle built to hold the bones of family members.
God is Not a Christian, Nor a Jew, Muslim, Hindu … Carlton Pearson 2010
-
The ossuary was a white building with its lower windows blacked out.
The Warrior 2008
-
Still others maintained that even if genuine we would never be able to prove that the “James son of Joseph” of the ossuary was the brother of Jesus of Nazareth since all three names were common in the period.
The Jesus Dynasty James D. Tabor 2006
-
Still others maintained that even if genuine we would never be able to prove that the “James son of Joseph” of the ossuary was the brother of Jesus of Nazareth since all three names were common in the period.
The Jesus Dynasty James D. Tabor 2006
thinkcharlene commented on the word ossuary
The Lost Tomb of Jesus
March 5, 2007
dailyword commented on the word ossuary
This word was also used in the book version of "The Name Of The Rose."
June 24, 2012