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Hidden under the main floor of a great church is often a large room, often with a tomb as its centerpiece. Many major European churches were built over the remains of a saint—the Vatican's great St. Peter's Basilica is an example—and instead of having the coffin buried, it was often given its spacious room below ground level. In a large aboveground tomb, or mausoleum, there may be several small chambers for individual coffins, also called crypts; when the comic book Tales from the Crypt made its first appearance in 1950, it was this meaning that the authors were referring to.
Examples of crypt in a Sentence
Bart Jansen, USA TODAY, 1 Sep. 2023
The crypt was filled in around 1300, according to the statement.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Aug. 2023
After Justo Gallego Martínez’s death, Spanish officials deemed his junk cathedral unsanitary and refused to honor his wish of being buried in the crypt; the cathedral itself faced the prospect of demolition before eventually being preserved by a charity.
—Max Olesker, Longreads, 13 July 2023
Today at the crypt designated for the Vietnam War Unknown remains vacant.
—Merrie Monteagudo, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 July 2023
The towering obelisk monument, which includes a crypt holding the remains of people murdered during the Nazi genocide, was created by Holocaust survivors in 1961.
—Claire Thornton, USA TODAY, 30 Dec. 2022
After the Mass, Benedict’s cypress coffin was placed inside a zinc one, then an outer oak casket before being entombed in the crypt in the grottoes underneath St. Peter’s Basilica that once held the tomb of St. John Paul II before it was moved upstairs.
—Nicole Winfield, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Jan. 2023
Created by Nigerian artist Victor Ehikhamenor, Still Standing is a mixed-media depiction of a Benin ruler that will be on display in the Anglican cathedral’s crypt through May 14, according to Artnet News.
—Jane Recker, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Mar. 2022
The castle now belongs to the family of an Italian lawyer who purchased the fortified island in 1912 and began restoration of its battlements, churches, convents, crypts and gardens.
—Joe Yogerst, CNN, 11 May 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'crypt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
borrowed from Latin crypta, crupta "covered passage, underground room," borrowed from Greek kryptḗ "underground room," noun derivative from feminine of kryptós "hidden, secret," verbal adjective of krýptein "to hide, conceal," of uncertain origin
Note: The verb krýptein is phonetically and semantically close to kalýptein "to cover, conceal," and the two may have influenced each other. Other forms with which krýptein has been compared, such as Old Church Slavic kryjǫ, kryti "to cover, hide, shroud," Lithuanian kráuju, kráuti "to pile up," are too distant phonetically to allow realistic reconstruction of an Indo-European verbal base. The alternation in consonants between kryp- (in krýptein, kryptós), kryb- (in krýbdēn "secretly"), and kryph- (in kryphêi "in secret," -kryphos "hidden") is apparently the result of both assimilation and analogy.
1583, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Dictionary Entries Near crypt
Cite this Entry
“Crypt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crypt. Accessed 25 Sep. 2023.
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Kids Definition
crypt
noun
Medical Definition
crypt
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on crypt
Nglish: Translation of crypt for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of crypt for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about crypt
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