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mortician

 - 6 dictionary results

mor⋅ti⋅cian

[mawr-tish-uhn]

Origin:
1890–95, Americanism; mort(uary) + -ician

funeral director

–noun
1. a person, usually a licensed embalmer, who supervises or conducts the preparation of the dead for burial and directs or arranges funerals.
2. a person who owns or operates a funeral home.
Also called mortician, undertaker.


Origin:
1885–90, Americanism
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To mortician
funeral director  
n.  One whose business is to arrange for the burial or cremation of the dead and assist at the funeral rites and who is usually an embalmer. Also called mortician, undertaker.
mor·ti·cian   (môr-tĭsh'ən)   
n.  See funeral director.

[Latin mors, mort-, death; see mortal + -ician.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

mortician 
1895, Amer.Eng., coined from mort(uary) + -ician, as in physician.
"The word 'mortician' is a recent innovation due to a need felt by undertakers for a word more in keeping with, and descriptive of, their calling." ["Literary Digest," Jan. 16, 1915]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: mor·ti·cian
Pronunciation: mor-'tish-&n
Function: noun
: UNDERTAKER
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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