ossuary

[prettygoodword]

ossuary - n., a receptacle, such as an urn or a vault, for holding the bones of the dead.


Late Latin ossuarium, from neuter of Latin ossuarius, of bones, from os, bone. Wikipedia has this to say about ossuaries. Continuing O Boy Week.

---L.

Comments

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

Amusing story: someone poked into my office, looked at the word, and said, "That's a bird, isn't it." After some back-and-forth not quite worthy of Abbot and Costello, we finally worked out they had been thinking of cassowary (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassowary).

Bird, urn -- same difference.

---L.