Cremate (krmt or kr-mt), v. t.
Etymology: [L. crematus, p. p. of cremare to burn; cf. Skr. cr to cook.]
To burn; to reduce to ashes by the action of fire, either directly or in an oven or retort; to incremate or incinerate; as, to cremate a corpse, instead of burying it.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for cremate; he lists it under burn.
Where he writes about it:
Cremate is now used specifically for consuming a dead body by intense heat. — from burn
To incinerate is to reduce to ashes; the sense differs little from that of cremate, but it is in less popular use. — from burn