Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Mortuaries"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
2. A burial place; a place for the dead.
3. A place for the reception of the dead before burial; a
deadhouse; a morgue.
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