Graveyard
/ˈɡreɪv.jɑːrd/noun
A burial ground, especially one associated with a church.
Did you know?The second half of graveyard comes from Old English geard, meaning an enclosed yard or garden, so the word originally described a fenced space for graves rather than a spooky “yard of the dead.”
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
græf
“grave, trench, or burial pit”
Old English
OE
geard
“enclosure, yard, or fenced place”
Middle English
ME
grave yerd
“an enclosed burial ground”
16th Century
English
graveyard
“a burial ground, especially near a church”
Modern English
English
graveyard
“a burial ground; also figuratively, a place where things are abandoned or dead”