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.

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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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• death certificates
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

death certificate

Once I had all that and my sister’s death certificate, I emailed it all to the insurer and received my reimbursement about a week later.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026

"She's been identified, they already gave me the death certificate," said a distraught Silva, 37.

From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026

The office of Armstrong, who said he never met Hsieh and yet was named a co-executor for Hsieh’s estate in the surprise will, received another befuddling document: a death certificate of Singh’s grandfather.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

In her letter, Adichie said that the hospital noted her son's death was from bacterial meningitis, to which she responded: "There was no medical evidence to make such a claim on his death certificate."

From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026

“My father always say she never went past a child in her head,” she said, reaching into her purse for a crumpled copy of Elsie’s death certificate, which she began reading slowly out loud.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot