Mortuary Meaning
/ˈmɔɹt͡ʃəˌwɛɹi/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOf or relating to death or a funeral; funereal.
nounA place where dead bodies are stored prior to burial or cremation; broadly, synonym of funeral home.
Sentence Examples
Tom broke into a mortuary.
Tom's corpse is in the mortuary now.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After the accident, the bodies were taken to the ____ for medical examination.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The family gathered at the local ____ to make the necessary arrangements for their grandfather's funeral service later in the week.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English mortuary, from Anglo-Norman mortuarie (“gift to a parish priest from a deceased parishioner”), from Medieval Latin mortuārium (“receptacle for the dead; mortuary”), neuter form of mortuārius (“of or pertaining to the dead”), from Latin mortuus, perfect passive participle of morior (“to die”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The leftwise action aims at what drifts out of the nunka domain of the nefarious. Similarly for mortuary arrangements, what is leftwise is more momentous than what is rightwise."
— 2006, Arne Røkkum, Nature, ritual, and society in Japan's Ryukyu Islands, page 151:
"It was anciently usual to bring the mortuary to church along with the corpse when it came to be buried"
— 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
After the accident, the bodies were taken to the ____ for medical examination.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The family gathered at the local ____ to make the necessary arrangements for their grandfather's funeral service later in the week.