a large, sometimes architecturally impressive building for housing a large colony of pigeons, particularly those of ancien regime France
A structured cemetery feature containing many niches for the permanent memorialization of urns containing cremated human remains
a building, a vault or some similar place for the respectful and usually public storage of cinerary urns containing cremated remains, or a niche in such a place
a sepulchral vault or other structure having recesses in the walls to receive cinerary urns a niche for a funeral urn containing the ashes of the cremated dead
A columbarium was originally a dovecote Modern morticians gave the name to a building with hundreds of little niches in the wall for urns holding cremated remains