Mortician

Mortician

Noun · /mɔːˈtɪʃ.ən/

Definition

A person who manages or works in a mortuary; a funeral director; the American English term for what British English calls an undertaker or funeral director.

Origin

From Latin mors/mortis (death, from mori, to die) + the agentive suffix -ician (one who practises or is skilled in, from -ician as in physician, musician, technician, from Latin -ianus). The word being formed in the United States in the late 19th century as part of a professionalisation movement that sought to give the occupation of preparing and burying the dead a more dignified, medical-sounding title. The British equivalent being undertaker (one who undertakes the burial) or funeral director. The professionalisation of death care in America being a significant social and commercial development.