Columbaria
/ˌkoʊ.ləmˈbɛr.i.ə/noun
Plural of columbarium; a structure with niches for holding cremation urns or, historically, a dovecote.
Did you know?In Roman Latin, a columbarium was literally a “place of doves,” and the wall niches in cremation chambers were named because they looked like the rows of nesting holes in a dovecote.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ḱel-
“to be warm, to cover, to hide”
Latin
Latin
columba
“dove, pigeon”
Latin
Latin
columbarium
“a dovecote; later, a wall of niches resembling a dovecote”
Medieval Latin
Latin
columbāria
“dovecotes; burial chambers with niches for urns”
Modern English
English
columbaria
“plural of columbarium; niches or structures for cremation urns”