mortuary
n. countablen. a room or building where dead bodies are kept before they are buried or cremated. It is a quiet place where doctors or family members can examine the body.
n. a room or building, typically in a hospital or funeral home, used for the storage and examination of deceased persons prior to burial or cremation.
The hospital staff moved the body to the mortuary.
The medical examiner spent the afternoon in the mortuary performing an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
While the hospital's main wing was bustling with life, the mortuary remained a somber, clinical space designed for the respectful handling of those who had passed away.
From Middle English mortuary, from Anglo-Norman mortuarie (“gift to a parish priest from a deceased parishioner”), from Medieval Latin mortuārium (“receptacle for the dead; mortuary”), neuter form of mortuārius (“of or pertaining to the dead”), from Latin mortuus, perfect passive participle of morior (“to die”).
Commonly used in British English; the term 'morgue' is more frequent in American English.