ossuary

[ osh-oo-er-ee, os- ]

noun

, plural os·su·ar·ies.

1. a place or receptacle for the bones of the dead.

ossuary

/ ˈɒsjʊərɪ /

noun

1. any container for the burial of human bones, such as an urn or vault

Word History and Origins

Origin of ossuary¹

1650–60; < Late Latin ossuārium, variant of ossārium, equivalent to oss- (stem of os ) bone + -ārium -ary

Word History and Origins

Origin of ossuary¹

C17: from Late Latin ossuārium, from Latin os bone

Example Sentences

The French cemetery at Notre Dame de Lorette has 20,000 named graves and an ossuary with 20,000 unknown dead.

From The Daily Beast

Ossuary, os′ū-ar-i, n. a place where the bones of the dead are deposited: a charnel-house.

From Project Gutenberg

After a time the body is taken up, the bones cleaned, and deposited in an ossuary called the Quiogozon.

From Project Gutenberg

They are probably now in the catacombs of Paris, mingled with those of the thousands of unknown or paupers in that great ossuary.

From Project Gutenberg

I love to go to his ossuary of dead transactions, as I would visit the catacombs of Rome or Paris.

From Project Gutenberg

In the middle, an open ossuary contains skeletons that have been exhumed in order to make room for other corpses.

From Project Gutenberg