What does mortality mean?
Mortality is the condition of being mortal: living in a form of existence that inevitably ends in death. In everyday discussion, the word often evokes the brevity and finitude of human life, but it also has an important quantitative use. A mortality rate is the number of deaths in a defined population during a specified period, often expressed per thousand or per hundred thousand people. Medical and public-health reports use measures such as infant mortality and excess mortality to identify health risks, compare populations, and evaluate the effects of disease, treatment, or environmental conditions. The term can also function more broadly to refer to deaths from a particular cause. Although mortality is an unavoidable feature of human life, reliable mortality statistics have made it possible to recognize patterns, assess interventions, and guide public-health policy. The word therefore joins a philosophical idea about human existence with a practical tool for measuring population outcomes.
nounThe quality or condition of being mortal and therefore subject to death. The term also denotes the number or proportion of deaths in a particular population during a given period.
- The quality or condition of being subject to death, especially as a property of human beings and other living organisms.
- The number or proportion of deaths in a population during a specified period.
- The occurrence or rate of deaths from a particular cause, especially in medical, demographic, or insurance contexts.
"The study examined mortality rates among the population over the past decade."
"Human mortality has declined substantially in many countries because of improvements in medicine, nutrition, and public health."
"The report attributed most of the increase in winter mortality to unusually cold temperatures."
The plural is uncommon in ordinary usage but can refer to mortality figures for different groups, causes, places, or periods.
"The researchers compared mortality rates and mortalities across several age groups."
A mortality rate turns the abstract certainty of death into a number that societies can track and, in many cases, reduce.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does mortality come from?
The word entered English in the late Middle English period through Old French mortalite, from Latin mortalitas. The Latin noun was formed from mōrtālis, meaning "mortal" or "subject to death," which in turn derives from mors, the Latin word for "death." The same root underlies English words including mortal, moribund, mortification, and, through French, mortgage.
How mortality is actually used
In general use, mortality usually means the fact or condition of eventual death. In statistics, medicine, and public health, it commonly refers more specifically to a death rate or to deaths classified by cause, age, location, or other criteria.
Easily confused with mortality
Mortality concerns the fact or rate of death, whereas morality concerns principles of right and wrong behaviour.