morgue English · revision 1044

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɔːɡ/ ''(UK)''; /moɹɡ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|Morgue]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) the name of a building in Paris where bodies of people found dead were displayed for identification.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) Earlier it was the place where new prisoners were shown to the keepers so that they could be identified.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The name probably comes from French ''morgue'' “haughtiness”, originally “solemn look”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from [[fro|morguer|t=to look at solemnly]], [[der|la-vul|*murricāre|t=to make a face]], from ''*murrum'' “muzzle, snout”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Paris building where bodies were exposed for identification; hence any mortuary (1821).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word ''morgue'' “haughty demeanour” had been borrowed into English in 1599.^(OED 1989) The place name became a general word for a mortuary in the 19th century.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In journalism slang, ''morgue'' meant the collection of obituaries of living people kept ready by a newspaper (1903),^(OED 1989) and then the whole library of clippings and reference material (1918).^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1599 – ''morgue'', a haughty demeanour.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1821 – a mortuary.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1903 – a newspaper's file of ready-made obituaries.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1918 – a newspaper's reference library.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A place where the bodies of dead people are kept until they are identified and claimed, or until [[burial]] or [[autopsy]]; a [[mortuary]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A reference file or library of clippings and other material in a newspaper or magazine office.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mortuary]]

+ * [[muzzle]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}