mor·tu·ar·y / ˈmôrchoōˌerē/ • n. (pl. -ar·ies) a funeral home or morgue.• adj. of or relating to burial or tombs: mortuary rituals a mortuary temple.

mortuary. Formerly a gift of the second-best beast of a deceased parishioner to the incumbent of the parish church, later the second best of the moveable goods from the estate. Subsequently merely a payment, the ‘Corse presente’ was limited by statute to a maximum of 10 shillings (1529), with many exemptions, while remaining lawful to certain Welsh bishops and the archdeacon of Chester on the death of a priest within their respective jurisdictions. The custom persisted sporadically into the 18th cent.; the term now applies more usually to a place for the temporary reception of the dead.

A. S. Hargreaves

mortuary sb. gift claimed by the parson from the estate of a deceased parishioner XIV; † obsequies XV; dead-house XIX; adj. pert. to burial or death XVI. As sb. orig. — AN. mortuarie — ecclL. mortuārium, n. sg. of mortuārius (whence the Eng. adj.), f. mortuus dead; see MORTAL, -ARY.

mortuary.
1. Building where corpses are temporarily accommodated, for identification, or autopsies.

2. Burial-place or sepulchre.

3. Dead-house.