1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Exhumation

EXHUMATION (from Med. Lat. exhumare; ex, out of, and humus, ground), the act of digging up and removing an object from the ground. The word is particularly applied to the removal of a dead body from its place of burial. For the offence of exhuming a body without legal authority, and the process of obtaining such authority, see Burial and Burial Acts.