LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
verbfourth conjugation

sepeliō

sepeliō (present infinitive sepelīre, perfect active sepelīvī, supine sepultum)
Classical[sɛˈpɛ.li.oː]Ecclesiastical[seˈpɛː.li.o]

Meaning

  1. to bury, inter
  2. to burn on a funeral pyre
  3. figurativelyto destroy, ruin, overwhelm
  4. to suppress
  5. to submerge

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

corpus mortuī in sepulcrō pōnō
sepeliō -īre — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 19, 22
buries
sepelit — in Seneca, ch. XX

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Sepelire · Condere · Humare

Sepelire and condere denote complete burial, the more or less solemn interment of the remains of a dead person, with or without previous burning; sepelire (Goth. filhan, ἀσπάλαξ) as a proper and technical expression; condere (καταθεῖναι) as a general and softer expression; whereas humare means depositing in the earth, as the last part of burial, in opp. to cremare.

Conjugation conjugation 4

active indicative
formpresentimperfectfutureperfectpluperfectfut. perfect
1st sg.sepeliōsepeliēbamsepeliamsepelīvīsepelīveramsepelīverō
2nd sg.sepelīssepeliēbāssepeliēssepelīvistīsepelīverāssepelīveris
3rd sg.sepelitsepeliēbatsepelietsepelīvitsepelīveratsepelīverit
1st pl.sepelīmussepeliēbāmussepeliēmussepelīvimussepelīverāmussepelīverimus
2nd pl.sepelītissepeliēbātissepeliētissepelīvistissepelīverātissepelīveritis
sepelīeritis
3rd pl.sepeliuntsepeliēbantsepelientsepelīvērunt
sepelīvēre, sepelīērunt		sepelīverantsepelīverint
active subjunctive
active subjunctive
formpresentimperfectperfectpluperfect
1st sg.sepeliamsepelīremsepelīverimsepelīvissem
2nd sg.sepeliāssepelīrēssepelīverīssepelīvissēs
3rd sg.sepeliatsepelīretsepelīveritsepelīvisset
1st pl.sepeliāmussepelīrēmussepelīverīmussepelīvissēmus
2nd pl.sepeliātissepelīrētissepelīverītis
sepelīeritis		sepelīvissētis
3rd pl.sepeliantsepelīrentsepelīverintsepelīvissent
passive indicative
passive indicative
formpresentimperfectfuture
1st sg.sepeliorsepeliēbarsepeliar
2nd sg.sepelīris
sepelīre		sepeliēbāris
sepeliēbāre		sepeliēris
sepeliēre
3rd sg.sepelītursepeliēbātursepeliētur
1st pl.sepelīmursepeliēbāmursepeliēmur
2nd pl.sepelīminīsepeliēbāminīsepeliēminī
3rd pl.sepeliuntursepeliēbantursepelientur
passive subjunctive
passive subjunctive
formpresentimperfect
1st sg.sepeliarsepelīrer
2nd sg.sepeliāris
sepeliāre		sepelīrēris
sepelīrēre
3rd sg.sepeliātursepelīrētur
1st pl.sepeliāmursepelīrēmur
2nd pl.sepeliāminīsepelīrēminī
3rd pl.sepeliantursepelīrentur
imperative
imperative
formactivepassive
pres. 2nd sg.sepelīsepelīre
pres. 2nd pl.sepelītesepelīminī
fut. 2nd sg.sepelītōsepelītor
fut. 3rd sg.sepelītōsepelītor
fut. 2nd pl.sepelītōte—
fut. 3rd pl.sepeliuntōsepeliuntor
infinitives & participles
infinitives & participles
formactivepassive
present infinitivesepelīresepelīrī
perfect infinitivesepelīvissesepultum esse
future infinitivesepultūrum essesepultum īrī
present participlesepeliēns
sepeliente, sepelientem, sepelientēs, sepelientī, sepelientia, sepelientibus, sepelientis, sepelientīs, sepelientium		—
perfect participle—sepultus
sepulta, sepultā, sepultae, sepultam, sepultārum, sepultās, sepulte, sepultī, sepultīs, sepultō, sepultōrum, sepultōs
future participlesepultūrus
sepultūra, sepultūrā, sepultūrae, sepultūram, sepultūrārum, sepultūrās, sepultūre, sepultūrī, sepultūrīs, sepultūrō, sepultūrōrum, sepultūrōs, sepultūrum		sepeliendus
sepeliundus
gerundsepeliendī, sepeliendō, sepeliendumsupinesepultum, sepultū

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

sepulturae honore carere
to be deprived of the rites of burial.
sepultura aliquem afficere
to bury a person.

sĕpĕlĭo, pelīvi or ii, pultum, 4 (
I. perf. sepeli, Pers. 3, 97; part. perf. sepelitus, Cato ap. Prisc. p. 909 P.; fut. sepelibis, Aus. Ep 25, 61; perf. sepelisset, Prop. 1, 17, 19; Quint. 8, 5, 16), v. a., to bury, inter (class.): sepultus intellegitur quoquo modo conditus, humatus vero humo contectus, Plin. 7, 54, 55, § 187 (cf. also condo).
I. Lit.: hominem mortuum, inquit lex in XII., in urbe ne sepelito neve urito. Credo vel propter ignis periculum. Quod autem addit, neve urito, indicat, non qui uratur, sepeliri, sed qui humetur. Att. Quid? qui post XII. in urbe sepulti sunt clari viri? etc., Cic. Leg. 2, 23, 58 Mos.: quoi (mortuo) auro dentes juncti escunt, ast im cum illo sepelirei ureive se fraude esto, id. Fragm. 2, 24, 60: mortuus est, sepelitus est, Cato ap. Prisc. p. 909 P.: surge et sepeli natum, Att. ap. Cic. Tusc. 1, 44, 106: aliquem, Sulp. ap. Cic. Fam. 4, 12, 3: Tarquinio sepulto, Cic. Rep. 2, 21, 38: suorum corpora, Liv. 27, 42, 7: et sepeli lacrimis perfusa fidelibus ossa, Ov. H. 14, 127. —Of merging in the sea: saevo sepelire profundo exanimos, Sil. 13, 480.—
B. To burn (the dead body), to perform the funeral rites of a man by burning: cujus corpus procul ab eo loco infoderunt ... inde erutus atque eodem loco sepultus est, Nep. Paus. 5, 5: qui vos trucidatos incendio patriae sepelire conatus est, Cic. Fl. 38, 95: sepultum Consentiae, quod membrorum reliquum fuit, ossaque Metapontum ad hostes remissa, i. e. buried after burning, Liv. 8, 24; cf. Nep. Eum. 13 fin.: sepeliri accuratissime imperavit ... evenit ut semiustum cadaver discerperent canes, Suet. Dom. 15.—
II. Trop.
A. To bury, i. e. to overwhelm, submerge, destroy, ruin, suppress, etc.: cerno animo sepultam patriam, miseros atque insepultos acervos civium, Cic. Cat. 4, 6, 11: patriā sepultā, Prop. 1, 22, 3 (sepulchra, Müll.): cuncta tuus sepelivit amor, id. 3, 15 (4, 14), 9. haec sunt in gremio sepulta consulatus tui, Cic. Pis. 5, 11: somnum sepelire, Plaut. Most. 5, 2, 1: quod bellum ejus (Pompeii) adventu sublatum ac sepultum, Cic. Imp. Pomp. 11, 30; so, bellum, Vell. 2, 75, 1; 2, 89, 3; 2, 90 al.: dolorem, to put an end to, Cic. Tusc. 2, 13, 32: tunc, cum mea fama sepulta est, Ov. P. 1, 5, 85: salutem in aeternum, i. e. to destroy, Lucr. 2, 570; cf. Vell. 2, 126, 2: multa tenens antiqua, sepulta, vetustas Quae facit, Lucil. ap. Gell. 12, 4, 4: nullus sum ... sepultus sum, I'm lost, Ter. Phorm. 5, 8 (7), 50.—
B. Poet.: sepultus, buried in deep sleep, lulled to sleep, slumbering: somno sepulti, Lucr. 5, 974; 1, 134: invadunt urbem somno vinoque sepultam, Verg. A. 2, 265: custode sepulto, id. ib. 6, 424; cf.: assiduo lingua sepulta mero, Prop. 3, 11 (4, 10), 56: paulum sepultae distat inertiae Celata virtus, slumbering, idle, Hor. C. 4, 9, 29.

Origins

Inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sepel-ye- (“to honor”), itself from *sep- (“to care”). The term has an exact parallel in Sanskrit सपर्यति (saparyáti, “to honor”). Regarding the Proto-Italic intermediary, Schrijver suggests that it must be reconstructed as *sepeljō, having retained consonantal yod and therefore escaping the effects of Exon's law. However, as noted by Schrijver, such a reconstruction does contradict the theory that third conjugation iō-verbs and fourth conjugations verbs first became differentiated to epenthesis before yod after a heavy syllable. It is perhaps possible that the verb was originally thid conjugation, but then remodeled later into a fourth conjugation verb. De Vaan explains the presence of -e- instead of **-i- in the first syllable despite the following l pinguis as the result of assimilation to the following -e-. Weiss, however, cites a phenomenon known as the alacer-rule, according to which a short vowel in an open medial syllable may retain its quality if it is identical to vowel in the following syllable and if they are seperated by only one consonant. As evidence of this development, Weiss cites calamitās. Cognate with Sanskrit सप् (sap, “to honor”), and Ancient Greek ἕπω (hépō, “to busy oneself with”).

Borrowings
  • Spanishsepelir
  • Old Galician-Portuguesesepelir
Elsewhere
  • Vulgar Latinsepelliō

In English words that came into English from sepeliō

  • sepulchresepulchrum
  • sepulchralsepulcralis
  • sepulturesepultura

Quick answers

What does sepeliō mean in Latin?
sepeliō, a verb, means “to bury, inter; to burn on a funeral pyre; to destroy, ruin, overwhelm”.
What are the principal parts of sepeliō?
sepeliō, sepelīre, sepelīvī, sepultum (fourth conjugation).
How do you pronounce sepeliō?
In classical Latin, [sɛˈpɛ.li.oː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [seˈpɛː.li.o].
Which English words come from sepeliō?
English words that go back to Latin sepeliō include sepulchre, sepulture and sepulchral.