mortality

[mawr-tal-i-tee]

See more synonyms for mortality on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural mor·tal·i·ties.

the state or condition of being subject to death; mortal character, nature, or existence.
the relative frequency of deaths in a specific population; death rate.
mortal beings collectively; humanity.

death or destruction on a large scale, as from war, plague, or famine.
Obsolete. death.

Origin of mortality

1300–50; Middle English mortalite < Middle French < Latin mortālitās. See mortal, -ity

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for mortality

fatality, bloodshed, dying, deadliness, killing, lethality, extinction, carnage, destruction, flesh, being, humankind, humanity, transience, ephemerality, impermanence, temporality

Examples from the Web for mortality

Contemporary Examples of mortality

With a mortality rate of 70 percent, the more cases that arise, the deadlier this epidemic becomes.
The Race for the Ebola Vaccine
Abby Haglage
January 7, 2015
And at the time he wrote that letter, Derek was also conscious of his own mortality.
The Queer Genius of Film Director Derek Jarman
Tim Teeman
November 1, 2014
His beloved collie-shepherd Honey died of cancer this summer, which made Cumming think about his own mortality.
Alan Cumming: The Truth About My Father
Tim Teeman
October 14, 2014
Among medical personnel, there were 416 confirmed cases and 233 deaths, a mortality rate of more than 56 percent.
Can You Treat Ebola—And Stay Safe?
Abby Haglage, Kent Sepkowitz
October 12, 2014
“With a mortality rate at about 60 percent, there is a great chance that they will live,” he continued.
The Only Thing More Terrifying Than Ebola Is Being Pregnant With Ebola
Kent Sepkowitz, Abby Haglage
October 2, 2014

Historical Examples of mortality

Pass on, with your burden of mortality, And lay it in the tomb with jolly hearts.
Main Street
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Our provisions were very bad, and the mortality among us was great.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
How altered and defaced by the putrifying touch of mortality!
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. I
Francis Augustus Cox
The mortality among the officers and men has been in proportion.
Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, Complete
Lewis Goldsmith
The mortality might have been higher than it was but for Peter Blood.
Captain Blood
Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for mortality

mortality

noun plural -ties

the condition of being mortal
great loss of life, as in war or disaster
the number of deaths in a given period
mankind; humanity
an obsolete word for death

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mortality

mid-14c., "condition of being mortal," from Old French mortalite "massacre, slaughter; fatal illness; poverty; destruction" (12c.), from Latin mortalitem (nominative mortalitas) "state of being mortal; subjection to death," from mortalis (see mortal (adj.)). Meaning "widespread death" is from c.1400; meaning "number of deaths from some cause or in a given period" is from 1640s.

mortality in Medicine

mortality

[môr-tăl′ĭ-tē]

The quality or condition of being mortal.
Death rate.