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.

---

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

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• death certificates
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

death certificate

On the infant’s death certificate, Diamantoni said, measles is listed as a contributing condition unrelated to the underlying cause of death.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Answer #2: Speaking of the executor, yes, it is generally your duty to notify the bank or other financial institutions of your mother-in-law’s death and provide the death certificate and other legal documents they require.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

“Part of me jokes that paying for a death certificate would be like buying a lottery ticket.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

"If you've got a death certificate with that on it, surely there's enough proof?"

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

An hour after the death certificate is signed, Lucinda is laid out in the water well of the hippopotamus car and hitched to a team of twenty-four black Percherons with feathers on their headbands.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen