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mortuary

Etymology and origin of the English word mortuary

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈmɔːt͡ʃʊəɹi/, /ˈmɔːt͡ʃwəɹi/ (UK); /ˈmɔɹt͡ʃəˌwɛɹi/ (US)[1]

Etymology

The noun is inherited from Middle English mortuarie, borrowed from Anglo-Norman mortuarie,[2][3][4] from Medieval Latin mortuārium,[3][4][5] the neuter of mortuārius “of the dead”,[2][3][4][6][5] from Latin mortuus (“dead”), the past participle of morī “to die”.[2][3][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A customary gift claimed by a parish priest from the estate of a deceased parishioner (c. 1380).[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The gift was once a voluntary donation brought with the body to the church, in compensation for tithes the dead person had neglected.[4] The word also meant a funeral (c. 1440).[7][4] The adjective, “of the burial of the dead”, dates from 1514.[7][6][4] The modern sense, a place where dead bodies are kept until burial, appeared in 1865 as a euphemism for the earlier dead-house.[7][3][4][6]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – a gift to the parish priest from a deceased's estate.[7][3]
  • c. 1440 – a funeral (obsolete).[7]
  • 1514 – adjective, of burial.[7][6]
  • 1540 – adjective, relating to death.[7]
  • 1865 – a place where bodies are kept.[7][3][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A place where dead bodies are kept before burial or cremation, especially a funeral home; a morgue.
  2. (historical) A customary gift due to a parish priest from the estate of a dead parishioner.

Adjective

  1. Of or relating to the burial of the dead, or to death.
  • mortician
  • mortal
  • morgue
  • post-mortem

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Mortuary.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/mortuary. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

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