What is "potter's field"

Potter \Pot"ter\, n. [Cf. F. potier.]

1. One whose occupation is to make earthen vessels.
   --Ps. ii. 9.

   The potter heard, and stopped his wheel.
   --Longfellow.

2. One who hawks crockery or earthenware. [Prov. Eng.]
   --De Quincey.

3. One who pots meats or other eatables.

4. (Zo["o]l.) The red-bellied terrapin. See Terrapin.

   Potter's asthma (Med.), emphysema of the lungs; -- so called because very prevalent among potters.
   --Parkers.

   Potter's clay. See under Clay.

   Potter's field, a public burial place, especially in a city, for paupers, unknown persons, and criminals; -- so named from the field south of Jerusalem, mentioned in
   --Matt. xxvii. 7.

   Potter's ore. See Alquifou.

   Potter's wheel, a horizontal revolving disk on which the clay is molded into form with the hands or tools. ``My thoughts are whirled like a potter's wheel.''
   --Shak.

   Potter wasp (Zo["o]l.), a small solitary wasp ( Eumenes fraternal) which constructs a globular nest of mud and sand in which it deposits insect larv[ae], such as cankerworms, as food for its young.

n. (context idiomatic English) A public place where strangers, paupers, and criminals are buried.

n. a cemetery for unknown or indigent people

A potter's field, paupers' grave or common grave is a term for a place for the burial of unknown or indigent people. The US expression potter's field derives from the Bible, referring to a field used for the extraction of potter's clay; such land, useless for agriculture, could be used as a burial site.

Potter's Field is the second album by American rock band 12 Stones. It was released on August 24, 2004. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 29, making it the band's highest charting album.

The Potter's Field Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska, United States is located on a plot of land at 5000 Young Street near the intersections of Young Street and Mormon Bridge Road. Like all Potter's Fields, it was used to bury poor people or people with no known identity from across the Omaha area. The cemetery was active from 1887 to 1957.