urn definition - Dictionary

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urn

urn [ urn ] (plural urns)

noun

Definition:

1. vessel for hot drinks: a closed vessel in which a hot drink, especially tea or coffee, is made in a large quantity and poured out through a spigot

2. vase for somebody's ashes: a sealed vase in which the ashes of somebody who has died and been cremated are kept

3. ornamental vase: an ornamental vase that may have a foot or a pedestal

4. botany spore-producing part of moss capsule: the part of a moss capsule where spores are produced

[14th century. < Latin urna]

Cultural Note


	Ode on a Grecian Urn, a poem (1819) by British writer John Keats. It describes the poet's reaction to a Greek vase decorated with reliefs of joyful rural scenes. The urn becomes a symbol of the contrast between the permanence of art and the transience of human life, and inspires the poem's famous proclamation "Beauty is truth, truth beauty."