When someone is cremated, their dead body is burned, usually as part of a funeral service. She wants Chris to be cremated. + cremation cremations cre·ma·tion At Miss Garbo's request there was a cremation after a private ceremony Half of California's deceased opt for cremation. to burn the body of a dead person at a funeral ceremony (past participle of cremare )
To burn; to reduce to ashes by the action of fire, either directly or in an oven or retort; to incremate or incinerate; as, to cremate a corpse, instead of burying it
The regulated process of reducing human remains to bone fragments (i e "ashes") through intense heat and evaporation in a cremation chamber The building which houses cremation chambers is called a crematory Generally, it takes 2 hours to cremate human remains, with the cremated remains usually weighing 4-8 pounds
Disposing of a corpse by burning. In the ancient world cremation took place on an open pyre. It was practiced by the Greeks (who considered it suitable for heroes and war dead) and the Romans (among whom it became a status symbol). The pagan Scandinavians also cremated their dead. In India the custom is very ancient. In some Asian countries only certain people may be cremated (e.g., high lamas in Tibet). Christianity opposed cremation, and it became rare in Europe after AD 1000 except under extreme circumstances, such as that brought on by the Black Death. The practice reemerged in the late 19th century and was eventually accepted by both Protestants and Roman Catholics
Exposing remains and the container encasing them to extreme heat and flame and processing the resulting bone fragments to a uniform size and consistency