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

The flag-draped transfer cases were carried to waiting vehicles for transporting to the mortuary facility at Dover, where the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System conducts identification and prepares the remains for burial.

From Barron's

The cases are then moved to waiting vehicles that transport them to the mortuary facility at Dover, where the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System conducts identification and prepares the remains for burial.

From Barron's

At the National Hospital in Galle, Iranian sailors’ bodies were arriving in trucks and being stored in a makeshift mortuary.

From Los Angeles Times

There, detectives discovered the body of 87-year-old William Mitchell, which had been in the mortuary room for 36 days and showed "obvious signs of decomposition", the court heard.

From BBC

The images, displayed in a south Tehran mortuary, are one of the only ways families have been able to identify their dead loved ones.

From BBC

Related Words

• morgue