mortuary
Americannoun
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a customary gift formerly claimed by and due to the incumbent of a parish in England from the estate of a deceased parishioner.
adjective
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of or relating to the burial of the dead.
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pertaining to or connected with death.
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of mortuary
1350–1400; Middle English mortuarie < Medieval Latin mortuārium, noun use of neuter of Latin mortuārius of the dead, equivalent to mortu ( us ) dead + -ārius -ary
Explanation
A mortuary is a room or area, often in a hospital, where dead bodies are kept. You can also use the word mortuary to talk about a funeral home. When a person dies in a hospital, his body is usually moved to a mortuary before an autopsy takes place. A mortuary is also where a body is kept until it's buried or cremated. Another word for a mortuary is a morgue, which is more commonly used in the United States. In the 1500's, mortuary was used as an adjective meaning "pertaining to death," from the Latin root word mortuus, or "dead."
Vocabulary lists containing mortuary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
So serious were Ockenden's concerns about mortuary care at NUH that she launched a full review into post-death care at the trust, which included 17 babies and one adult.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Concerns were first raised about mortuary care by Jack and Sarah Hawkins, the parents of Harriet, who was stillborn in 2016.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
The report also highlighted a "siloed way of working" described by some families between the bereavement service, mortuary and funeral directors.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
One baby was kept in the mortuary for 772 days.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Ibis opened the hearse, and the mortuary doors, and Shadow unbuckled the gurney and pulled it out.
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
After decades working in mortuaries, a campaigner hopes to provide the UK's first human composting service as an alternative to cremation or burial.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2026
Iranian mortuaries separate the bodies of men and women for religious reasons.
From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2026
Earlier this week, a BBC investigation reported Ms Upton had been banned from entering any of Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust's mortuaries and maternity wards for keeping the bodies of babies at her home.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2025
Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust said it had barred 38-year-old Amie Upton from its mortuaries and maternity wards in spring this year.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2025
I've dug down in the mortuaries of other men too often—long as a man doesn 't believe his own lies, he's on guard and doesn't get caught.
From The Freebooters of the Wilderness by Laut, Agnes C. (Agnes Christina)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
