Other forms: tombstones
A tombstone is the stone marking where somebody is buried. Read the tombstone, an old tombstone, a leaning tombstone.
It is strictly the slab over a tomb and a headstone is the upright one, though almost nobody keeps the distinction. Churchyards lay them flat when they become unsafe, which is why so many old ones are underfoot.
1nountombstoneThe stone marking where somebody is buried.
“The old tombstone was so worn that we could hardly read the name.”
tombstone is a stone.
Tomb plus stone, with tomb from Greek tymbos, a burial mound.
From tomb + stone.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA