Bur"i*al (?), n. [OE. buriel,
buriels, grave, tomb, AS. byrgels, fr. byrgan to bury,
and akin to OS. burgisli sepulcher.] 1. A
grave; a tomb; a place of sepulture. [Obs.]
The erthe schook, and stoones weren cloven, and
biriels weren opened.
Wycliff [Matt. xxvii. 51, 52].
2. The act of burying; depositing a dead body in
the earth, in a tomb or vault, or in the water, usually with attendant
ceremonies; sepulture; interment. "To give a public burial."
Shak.
Now to glorious burial slowly borne.
Tennyson.
Burial case, a form of coffin, usually of iron,
made to close air-tight, for the preservation of a dead body. --
Burial ground, a piece of ground selected and set
apart for a place of burials, and consecrated to such use by religious
ceremonies. -- Burial place, any place where
burials are made. -- Burial service.
(a) The religious service performed at the interment of
the dead; a funeral service. (b) That portion of a
liturgy which is read at an interment; as, the English burial
service.
Syn. -- Sepulture; interment; inhumation.