n. pl. mor·tu·ar·ies A place, especially a funeral home, where dead bodies are kept before burial or cremation. adj. 1. Of or relating to burial practices. 2. Relating to or characteristic of death. [Middle English mortuarie, gift to a parish priest from the estate of the deceased, funeral service, from Anglo-Norman, from Latin mortuārium, receptacle for dead things, neuter of mortuārius, of the dead, from mortuus, dead, past participle of morī, to die; see mer- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.