rigor mortis

[rig-er mawr-tis, rahy-gawr]

noun

1. the stiffening of the body after death.

rigor mortis

/ ˈrɪɡə ˈmɔːtɪs /

noun

1. pathol the stiffness of joints and muscular rigidity of a dead body, caused by depletion of ATP in the tissues. It begins two to four hours after death and lasts up to about four days, after which the muscles and joints relax

rigor mortis

1. Muscular stiffening following death, resulting from the unavailability of energy needed to interrupt contraction of the muscle fibers.

rigor mortis

1. Stiffening of the muscles of the body that occurs after death. Rigor mortis is Latin for “stiffness of death.”

Figuratively, rigor mortis refers to an absence of flexibility or vitality: “By the time the school finally closed, rigor mortis had set in in nearly every department.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of rigor mortis¹

1830–40; < Latin: literally, stiffness of death

Word History and Origins

Origin of rigor mortis¹

C19: Latin, literally: rigidity of death