os·su·ary
Pronunciation: 'ä-sh&-"wer-E, -sy&-, -s&-
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -ar·ies
Etymology: Late Latin ossuarium, from Latin, neuter of ossuarius of bones, from Old Latin ossua, plural of oss-, os
: a depository for the bones of the dead
Grave, crypt, pyramid, 6 feet under, pine box, Viking ship, tree, all fit the above.
I'm assuming this meaning applies to more formal, uh, "grand" depositories?
Ossuary
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 2578
- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:56 pm
- Location: Crownsville, MD
A place for skeletal remains only, not the rest of the body parts.
From the Wikipedial article on Hallstatt:
From the Wikipedial article on Hallstatt:
From the Cemetery article:There is so little place for cemeteries that every ten years bones are exhumed and removed into an ossuary, to make room for new burials. A collection of elaborately decorated medieval skulls with the owners' names, professions, death dates inscribed on them is on display at the local chapel.
See also: Charnel House, charnel, and charnel house.In some cases, skeletons were exhumed from graveyards and moved into ossuaries or catacombs. A large action of this type occured in 18th century Paris when human remains were transfered from graveyards all over the city to the Catacombs of Paris.
Regards//Larry
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
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