What does morgue mean?
A morgue is a room or building where dead bodies are kept temporarily, usually before they are identified, examined, embalmed, or prepared for burial. The term is especially common in hospitals, where a morgue may form part of the pathology or mortuary department, and it can also refer to a public facility handling unclaimed bodies. Although the subject is somber, morgue itself is a practical, institutional word rather than an intentionally euphemistic one. In journalism, the word has a specialized figurative sense: a newspaper's morgue is its archive of obituaries, death notices, and information about deceased people. The word entered English from French, where morgue similarly designated a place for keeping the dead. Its associations with mortality, grief, and forensic examination distinguish it from terms such as funeral home, which primarily denotes a business that organizes funerals and may prepare the deceased for burial.
nounA room or building where dead bodies are kept temporarily, usually before burial or identification. By extension, it can refer to a newspaper's archive of obituaries and other material concerning deceased people.
- A room or building where dead bodies are kept before burial, identification, or further procedures.
- A newspaper or publisher's archive of obituaries, death notices, and related material.
"The body was taken to the city morgue while the family made arrangements for the funeral."
"The coroner asked the hospital to transfer the remains to the morgue."
"Reporters searched the newspaper's morgue for information about the accident."
The plural is formed regularly by adding -s.
"Several city morgues handled the bodies recovered after the flood."
The word entered English from French in the early 17th century, originally naming a place where the dead were kept.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does morgue come from?
English borrowed morgue from French, where the word was used for a place where dead bodies were kept. The French term has older Germanic connections, but its ultimate development is not sufficiently straightforward to identify a secure group of modern English cognates. The sense remained closely associated with the temporary storage of bodies, while the journalistic sense developed from the idea of keeping records of the dead.
How morgue is actually used
The word is formal and institutional rather than euphemistic, although its association with death can make it sound grim. In British English, morgue commonly refers to a hospital mortuary; in American English, it may also refer to a public facility where bodies are held. The journalistic sense is specialized and usually appears in newsroom contexts.
Easily confused with morgue
A morgue is specifically a place where dead bodies are kept, whereas a mortuary may also refer to a funeral home or the department of a hospital that prepares deceased patients for burial.