Coroner

//ˈkɒ.ɹə.nə(ɹ)// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A public official who presides over an inquest into unnatural deaths, and who may have (or historically had) additional powers such as investigating cases of treasure trove. Commonwealth, Ireland, Japan

    "The coroner confirmed the cause of death."

  2. 2
    a public official who investigates by inquest any death not due to natural causes wordnet
  3. 3
    A medical doctor who performs autopsies and determines time and cause of death from a scientific standpoint. Canada, US

    "A report from the coroner was presented in court."

  4. 4
    The administrative head of a sheading.

Synonyms

All synonyms
medical examinerallopathallopathistattending physicianautopsierautopsist

Example

More examples

"The coroner didn't find any gunshot wounds on any of the bodies."

Etymology

From Middle English coroner, from Old French curuner, from Medieval Latin custōs placitōrum corōnae (“guardian of the crown's pleas”). The function was originally to protect royal properties.

Related phrases

medical doctortreasure trove

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.