Mortuary

Mortuary

Noun / Adjective · /ˈmɔː.tʃu.ər.i/

Definition

(Noun) a room or building in which dead bodies are kept before burial or cremation, particularly in a hospital or public facility; the British English equivalent of the American morgue; (Adjective) relating to the burial or disposal of the dead (mortuary rites, mortuary practice).

Origin

From Medieval Latin mortuarium (a gift to a priest upon the death of a parishioner), from Latin mortuarius (relating to the dead), from mortuus (dead, past participle of mori, to die). The same mori root giving mortal, mortality, mortician, and immortal. The word entering English in the 14th century with the ecclesiastical sense (a death payment to the church) before developing into its building sense. Mortuary in British English being the standard professional term for the facility where bodies are stored and examined, while American English more commonly uses morgue.