DictionaryRoot: -arius
Latin

-arius

connected with; a person concerned with

Forms

  • -arius
  • -ary — The ending shortened in French and English.
  • -aire — One French development of the ending.

Origin

A Latin ending for relationships, occupations, and associated things.

Note

Its descendants can name a person, a place, or a quality; the surrounding word determines the contribution.

56 / 100
A clean quiet mortuary room with closed stainless refrigerated body-storage drawers and an empty covered trolley, no visible bodies.
adjective / noun

mortuary

MOR-choo-air-ee/ˈmɔːrtʃueri/

Relating to the care or burial of the dead.

Etymology

The death root underlies an adjective meaning 'pertaining to the dead.' Its later use for a place was a gentler alternative to 'deadhouse,' naming where bodies are kept temporarily.

Full entry

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