What does "mortuary" mean?

A place where dead bodies are stored prior to burial or cremation; broadly, synonym of funeral home.

What is a synonym for "mortuary"?

Common synonyms include: morgue, blue, burning ghat, cadaverous, charnel house, cinerary.

How do you pronounce "mortuary"?

Pronounced //ˈmɔɹt͡ʃəˌwɛɹi//.

Mortuary

//ˈmɔɹt͡ʃəˌwɛɹi// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1
A place where dead bodies are stored prior to burial or cremation; broadly, synonym of funeral home.
2
a building (or room) where dead bodies are kept before burial or cremation wordnet
3
A sort of ecclesiastical heriot, a customary gift claimed by, and due to, the minister of a parish on the death of a parishioner. historical

Adjective

1
Of or relating to death or a funeral; funereal. not-comparable

Adjective

1
of or relating to a funeral wordnet
2
of or relating to or characteristic of death wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

morgue blue burning ghat cadaverous charnel house cinerary

Example

More examples

""You can take him to the mortuary now," he said. "There is nothing more to be learned.""

Etymology

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”).

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