mortuary

American  

[mawr-choo-er-ee] / ˈmɔr tʃuˌɛr i /

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.

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adjective

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

2. pertaining to or connected with death.

mortuary British  

/ ˈmɔːtʃʊərɪ /

noun

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

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adjective

1. of or relating to death or burial

Other Word Forms

• premortuary adjective

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

Example Sentences

In San Bernardino, there “were people camping outside the mortuary,” Ayloush said, so the bodies had to be spirited out a back exit.

From Los Angeles Times

He added that the family later took the corpse to the mortuary.

From BBC

Around a 15-minute drive from the Prince of Wales Hospital, a grim scene played out as those who had lost family members went to a public mortuary to identify the bodies.

From Barron's

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.

From Los Angeles Times

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

Related Words

• morgue