mortuary
Americannoun
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mortuaries
plural
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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:
Lyubov was still searching for her mother's body, until she visited the mortuary last October during a trip to the regional capital Kursk.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
Nearby, close to the hospital's mortuary, photos of bodies recovered from the mud are on display.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
One baby was kept in the mortuary for 772 days.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Nottinghamshire Police arrested two men last month on suspicion of misconduct in a public office over the trust's mortuary practices.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
It was Nel who finally called the hospital, then the mortuary, then the police, who were the ones to come.
From "Sula" by Toni Morrison
With mortuaries overflowing, Nepal has buried hundreds of bodies in mass graves after collecting DNA samples for future identification, according to police.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
With mortuaries overflowing, Nepal has buried hundreds of bodies in mass graves, after taking DNA samples for future identification, according to the police.
From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026
After days of searching shelters and mortuaries, relatives of some of the missing lost hope and began conducting last rites.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
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.
From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2025
The exactions for mortuaries, legacy duties, and probate duties, long a pleasant source of revenue, were abolished or cut down.
From The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon The Story as Told by the Imperial Ambassadors Resident at the Court of Henry VIII by J.A. Froude
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.
