mortuary

[mawr-choo-er-ee]

noun

plural

mortuaries 

1. funeral home.

2. a customary gift formerly claimed by and due to the incumbent of a parish in England from the estate of a deceased parishioner.

adjective

1. of or relating to the burial of the dead.

2. pertaining to or connected with death.

mortuary

/ ˈmɔːtʃʊərɪ /

noun

1. Also called: morgue. a building where dead bodies are kept before cremation or burial

adjective

1. of or relating to death or burial

Other Word Forms

• premortuary adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of mortuary¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of mortuary¹

C14 (as n, a funeral gift to a parish priest): via Medieval Latin mortuārium (n) from Latin mortuārius of the dead

Example Sentences

Before she had any real success in music, she traded the jam room for the classroom, enrolling in a mortuary science program at Cypress College.

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A BBC Investigation in August 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.

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Footage filmed by a freelance journalist working for the BBC at Nasser's mortuary appeared to show the body of a blindfolded man.

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PC Matanka's body is now in a mortuary and there will be a post-mortem later.

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Friend B and another friend went to the mortuary to see Agnes's body.

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Related Words

• morgue