death certificate

American  

noun

• death certificates
  plural

1. a certificate signed by a doctor, giving pertinent identifying information, as age and sex, about a deceased person and certifying the time, place, and cause of death.

---

death certificate British  

noun

1. a legal document issued by a qualified medical practitioner certifying the death of a person and stating the cause if known

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• death certificates
  plural

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

death certificate

His publicist initially told the Associated Press that the renowned designer died of pneumonia, but a death certificate obtained by Us Weekly paints a different picture.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health cited Parkinson’s disease as the actor’s immediate cause of death, according to his death certificate obtained by TMZ.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

The Office for National Statistics latest figures, external show there were 27 deaths registered in Wales in 2024 that mentioned any paracetamol on the death certificate.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

On the infant’s death certificate, Diamantoni said, measles is listed as a contributing condition unrelated to the underlying cause of death.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

The cause of her death, not revealed in the note or in her obituary in the Daily Press, was entered on her death certificate as “dementia praecox.”

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---