mortuary
nounEtymology 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”).
1
A place where dead bodies are stored prior to burial or cremation; broadly, synonym of funeral home.
- It was anciently usual to bring the mortuary to church along with the corpse when it came to be buried1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:
2
Historical A sort of ecclesiastical heriot, a customary gift claimed by, and due to, the minister of a parish on the death of a parishioner.
- Derived terms
- mortuary pole, mortuary science