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Glite Dictionary
🏥 A place for bodies ⚰️ About death
mortuary

mortuary

7.5
Having a sad, quiet feeling like at a funeral
  • adjective
  • /ˈmɔr.tʃuˌɛr.i/
translation icon : fúnebre
  • During the mortuary ceremony, family members shared touching stories about their loved ones.

And I'm not for sure if you know this, but I went to Mortuary school here in Nashville.

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Examples

  • But I must reiterate the importance of viewing Chinese funerals as fitting with themes of honor for family ancestors, filial piety, and concern with Chinese origins that are demonstrated in other mortuary rituals and in their everyday lives.

    Academic text (1992)

  • In other words, viewed against cultural themes which mortuary rites in general express, Chinese funerals reflect the persistent significance of the traditional preoccupation with ancestors.

    Academic text (1992)

  • These are all striking parallels to the changes that occurred in the kula and mortuary ritual practices of the islands of southeastern New Guinea.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Bauerreiss juxtaposed in provocative ways the sacramental, liturgical, devotional, and mortuary contexts in which the image appeared north of the Alps after 1300.

    Academic text (2005)

  • The community organized a mortuary service to honor the lives of those who had passed away.

  • He worked in a mortuary, assisting with preparations for funerals in a respectful manner.

Synonyms

funerary
vsmortuary
1 8.1

About ceremonies for burying a dead person

is broader, covering anything connected with death or the burial process
sepulchral
vsmortuary
  • Literature
1 9.9

Gloomy and quiet like a tomb or a funeral

is neutral and general, not emphasizing gloom or tomb imagery

How Morbid

mortuary
7.5
death's head
1 9.1
memento mori
  • Literature
1 9.9
memento
47 6.0
token
29 3.4

Surface Forms

mortuary positive

Morphology

mortuary = mort + ary

Built from the combining form 'mort-' meaning 'death', so the relation to death/funerals is clear, but 'mort-' is not a standalone English word and the suffix is Latin-derived, so learners may not reliably infer the meaning from parts alone.

Etymology

Mortuary comes from the Latin root mort-, which means 'death' and is in familiar words like mortal and mortality. So when something has a mortuary tone or atmosphere, it is connected to death, funerals, or burial.