Cemetery vs Graveyard - Do you know the difference?

In this edition of Weird Wednesday, we are diving in, 6 feet under, to explore the difference between a Cemetery and a Graveyard.

Leave to Merriam Webster to have an entire entry on this complete with cheeky commentary.

First let’s start with a bit of history stolen from our dictionary friends …

“Cemetery is the older of the two words in English, first used in the 1400s and descended ultimately from the Greek word koimētērion, meaning “sleeping chamber” or “burial place.” The first-known use of graveyard in print occurred a few centuries later, in the mid-1700s.

”Now let’s get into the difference, it’s a bit obvious once someone points it out. 

• A graveyard, specifically refers to a burial place located next to a church, or the small burial “yard”. 

• Whereas a cemetery is simply a burial place, no church required. 

For the non-enthusiast, these words are used interchangeably with one common exception. Graveyard is more often used in other contexts beyond the burial of the human dead, very few people are going to be caught talking about an equipment “cemetery”.