urn UK /ɜːn/US /ɝn/noun 6verb 1forms 4 noun6 •A vase with a footed base.A rustic, digging in the ground by Padua, […]found an urn, or earthen pot, in which there was another urn. — 1648 •A vessel for the ashes or cremains of a deceased person.So draw him home to those that mourn In vain; a favourable speed Ruffle thy mirror’d mast, and lead Thro’ prosperous floods his holy urn. — 1850 •A metal vessel for serving tea or coffee. •(figurative) Any place of burial; the grave.Or lay these bones in an unworthy urn, / Tombless, with no remembrance over them. — 1599 •A hollow body shaped like an urn, in which the spores of mosses are contained; a spore case; a theca. •(historical) A measure of capacity for liquids, containing about three gallons and a half, wine measure. It was half the amphora, and four times the congius. verb1 •To place in an urn. formsurned · urning · urns · URNs