mortuary

mortuary
    adj 1: of or relating to or characteristic of death
    2: of or relating to a funeral
    n 1: a building (or room) where dead bodies are kept before
         burial or cremation [syn: {morgue}, {mortuary}, {dead
         room}]
    

funeral home \fu"ner*al home`\, n.
   An establishment, usually commercial, where the bodies of
   dead persons are prepared for viewing before burial or
   cremation; called also {funeral parlor}, {mortuary}, {funeral
   chapel} and informally, {undertaker's}. The body may or may
   not be preserved by embalming before viewing or burial, and
   in some cases the body is not exposed for viewing, though
   present in a casket. Often, some form of memorial service is
   held for the deceased at the funeral home, where friends and
   relatives may come to pay their respects to the dead, and
   express condolence to the family. The work of preparation of
   the body and many other arrangements related to the funeral
   and burial are carried out by an undertaker or mortician who
   manages the funeral home.
   [PJC]
    

Mortuary \Mor"tu*a*ry\, n.; pl. {Mortuaries}. [LL. mortuarium.
   See {Mortuary}, a.]
   1. A sort of ecclesiastical heriot, a customary gift claimed
      by, and due to, the minister of a parish on the death of a
      parishioner. It seems to have been originally a voluntary
      bequest or donation, intended to make amends for any
      failure in the payment of tithes of which the deceased had
      been guilty.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A burial place; a place for the dead.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. A place for the reception of the dead before burial; a
      deadhouse; a morgue.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. A {funeral home}.
      [PJC]
    

Mortuary \Mor"tu*a*ry\, a. [L. mortuarius, fr. mortuus dead: cf.
   F. mortuaire. See {Mortal}.]
   Of or pertaining to the dead; as, mortuary monuments.
   [1913 Webster]

   {Mortuary urn}, an urn for holding the ashes of a dead person
      after cremation.
      [1913 Webster]
    

46 Moby Thesaurus words for "mortuary":
      blue, burning ghat, cadaverous, charnel house, cinerary,
      corpselike, crematorium, crematory, deadhouse, deadly, deathlike,
      deathly, deathly pale, dirgelike, dismal, eerie, epitaphic,
      exequial, feral, funebrial, funebrious, funebrous, funeral,
      funerary, funereal, ghastly, ghostlike, ghostly, grisly, gruesome,
      haggard, livid, lurid, macabre, mausoleum, morgue, mournful,
      necrological, obituary, obsequial, pale, sepulchral, uncanny,
      unearthly, wan, weird