What's the Difference of Tombstone, Gravestone, or Headstone?

The words "Tombstone" and "Gravestone" used to refer to large stone slabs used to cover tomb or graves. There may be carvings on them, but their purpose is to fix the dead body in the grave or underground. "Gravestone" is an older word that began in the late 14th century, while "tombstone" began in the mid-16th century. Headstone, as the name suggests, refers to the tombstone placed on the head of the grave.

 According to the Oxford English dictionary, it is the latest of the three words, which appeared in 1676.

Today, the words "tombstone", "gravestone" and "headstone" are often used interchangeably to refer to tombstones of any size or style. No matter what word you use, these three words refer to something made of stone to mark the place where someone is or will be buried. Sometimes cemeteries have tombstones that indicate where people who are still alive will be buried one day, but most tombstones indicate where someone has been buried. Therefore, whether they are used to indicate the location of present or future tombs, the three words - "tombstone", "headstone" and "gravestone" - refer to the same thing: a burial site marked with stones.

Other words are also used to refer to tombstones. For example, the word "monument" is a common term used to mark a single grave or a family cemetery containing multiple graves. In some cemeteries, you usually see a large monument with the family name written on it, surrounded by a smaller tombstone that says the family members who will or will be buried there. Some cemeteries will also have a cornerstone, as the name suggests, which is a stone tablet placed at the foot of the tomb. Footstones are usually smaller than tombstones, and there are fewer carvings on them. In some areas, such as New Orleans in Louisiana or the famous Recoleta cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina, you will also see tombs on the ground to bury bodies. These well-designed resting places are sometimes called tombs or mausoleums.

Regardless of material, shape or size, the word "grave marker" can be used to refer to anything that marks a grave. However, if a monument or other memorial, even if it looks like a tombstone, is not a person's real grave, it will be called cenotaph, which comes from Greek and means "empty grave". For example, a war monument engraved with the names of soldiers is a monument.

But all this still leaves us with a question: what are Halloween decorations that look like tombstones but are not, or may not even be, made of stone? Because the three words"tombstone", "headstone" and "gravestone" are often used as synonyms, it doesn't matter which word you use for their replicas in the Halloween display. No matter what word you use, people are likely to understand what you're talking about, just as ed Schieffelin knows what his friends mean by saying he'll find his tombstone.