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mortuary

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Definition of mortuary

noun (plural mortuaries)

  • a room or building in which dead bodies are kept, for hygienic storage or for examination, until burial or cremation.

adjective

  • relating to burial or tombs:mortuary rituals a mortuary temple

Origin:

late Middle English (denoting a gift claimed by a parish priest from a deceased person's estate): from Latin mortuarius, from mortuus 'dead'. The current noun sense dates from the mid 19th century

Spelling help

Remember that mortuary ends with -uary.

mortuary in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of mortuary in the US English dictionary
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