exhume

exhume

See also: exhumé

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin exhumō, from Latin ex- + humō (“to bury”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɛks.ˈ(h)juːm/, /ɪɡ.ˈzjuːm/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɛkˈ.s(j)um/, /ɪɡˈz(j)um/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːm

Verb

exhume (third-person singular simple present exhumes, present participle exhuming, simple past and past participle exhumed)

1. (transitive) To dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter.
   • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 126:

     Not so long ago a Scotsman is reported to have exhumed the body of his daughter and burnt her heart, as he thought she was devitalising her remaining brother and sister and making them ill.

   The archeologist exhumed artifacts from the ground with a shovel.

2. (transitive, figurative) To uncover; to bring to light.
   • 2009, S. E. Wilmer, Writing and Rewriting National Theatre Histories (page 47)

     Memorial was permeated by a sense of mission, a moral imperative to exhume the truth and display it to the eyes of its compatriots, whatever feelings of shame, outrage, denial, or shock might ensue.

Synonyms

• dig up, disinter, unbury, unearth

Antonyms

• bury, inhume, inter

Derived terms

• exhumation
• exhumer

Translations

To dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter

Armenian: արտաշիրիմել (artaširimel) Aromanian: dizgrop Bulgarian: изра́вям (bg) (izrávjam), ексхуми́рам (ekshumíram) Catalan: exhumar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 發掘／发掘 (zh) (fājué) Dutch: opgraven (nl) Finnish: kaivaa ylös French: exhumer (fr) Galician: desenterrar (gl), exhumar (gl) German: exhumieren (de) Hungarian: kiás (hu), kihantol, exhumál (hu) Icelandic: grafa upp Ido: ekterigar (io), dessepultar (io) Irish: dí-adhlaic Italian: esumare (it) Japanese: 掘り出す (ほりだす, horidasu), 掘り起こす (ほりおこす, horiokosu), 発掘する (ja) (はっくつする, hakkutsu suru) Maori: hahu, ehu Polish: ekshumować (pl) Portuguese: exumar (pt), desenterrar (pt) Romanian: exhuma (ro), deshuma (ro), dezgropa (ro) Russian: эксгуми́ровать (ru) impf or pf (eksgumírovatʹ), выка́пывать (ru) impf (vykápyvatʹ), вы́копать (ru) pf (výkopatʹ), вырыва́ть (ru) impf (vyryvátʹ), вы́рыть (ru) pf (výrytʹ) Spanish: exhumar (es) Swedish: gräva upp (sv), exhumera (sv) Ukrainian: ексгумува́ти impf or pf (ekshumuváty) Walloon: coir (wa) Welsh: datgladdu

to uncover, bring to light

Finnish: paljastaa (fi)

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛɡ.zym/

Verb

exhume

1. inflection of exhumer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eɡˈsume/ [eɣ̞ˈsu.me]
• Rhymes: -ume
• Syllabification: ex‧hu‧me

Verb

exhume

1. inflection of exhumar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative