People generally understand what the term cremation means. When we are asked for a detailed definition, however, we tend to hesitate while searching for appropriate words. A suggested definition of cremation is the: "The mechanical and/or thermal or other dissolution process that reduces human remains to bone fragments." Cremation includes the processing and usually includes the pulverization of the bone fragments.

This definition covers a variety of technologies that may be applied in order to achieve reduction to bone fragments, including traditional flame-based cremation, calcination and alkaline hydrolysis.