death certificate

American  

noun

• death certificates
  plural

1. a certificate signed by a doctor, giving pertinent identifying information, as age and sex, about a deceased person and certifying the time, place, and cause of death.

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death certificate British  

noun

1. a legal document issued by a qualified medical practitioner certifying the death of a person and stating the cause if known

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• death certificates
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

death certificate

Don’t miss: My ex-husband’s sister died — so why is Fidelity asking me for her death certificate?

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026

For Saroj, the most important outcome of the inquest was the detail added to Gareth's death certificate, describing how the lack of care he had received in prison contributed to his death.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

Finally, the family secured an official death certificate and arranged for the cremation of Carleydi Lozada, 43, mother of two.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

The office of Armstrong, who said he never met Hsieh and yet was named a co-executor for Hsieh’s estate in the surprise will, received another befuddling document: a death certificate of Singh’s grandfather.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

He was trying to supply information for the making out of the death certificate.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith