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thanatopraxy

thanatopraxy noun: embalming.

Noun

thanatopraxy (uncountable)

  1. (uncommon) Embalming.
    • THANATOPRAXIE s. f. [gr. thanatos : mort; praxis : action] (angl. thanatopraxy). […] thanatopraxy, thanatopraxie[1975, Dictionnaire de médecine [Dictionary of Medicine] (in French), Paris: Flammarion Médecine-Sciences [Flammarion Medicine-Sciences], →ISBN, pages 713, column 1, and 865, column 2
    • For example in Quebec under Section 38 of the Public Health Protection Act persons wishing to operate a laboratory organ tissue bank, a vacation camp, or an ambulance service, to act as a funeral director, or to practice embalming, cremation, or thanatopraxy, must have resided in Quebec for at...1983, Michael J[ohn] Trebilcock, John Whalley, Carol Rogerson, Ian Ness, “Provincially induced barriers to trade in Canada: a survey”, in Michael J. Trebilcock, Robert S[tobo] Prichard, Thomas...

Examples of thanatopraxy in a sentence

  • The subject of this discussion is embalming, or as it is often called in Europe—thanatopraxy.2006, Peter J. Ball, “Embalming—United Kingdom and European”, in Robert G. Mayer, Embalming: History, Theory, and Practice, 4th edition...
  • Simultaneously he studied anatomical science and attended the Shropshire School of funeral services, obtaining a Diploma in Embalming or Thanatopraxy as it is now known.2011, Uel Wright, Norman P. McClelland, “David Neville – Fifth Generation”, in The Hennings of Newry, Phoenix, Ariz.: Norman P. McClelland...
  • Thanatopraxy: the art of making up the dead / FREE download of the Keys of Thanatopraxy today only2012 September [2012 April], Marcos Prior, translated by Carla Díaz Juhl, The Year of the 4 Emperors, [Philadelphia, Pa.]: KettleDrummer...
  • Aims […] encourage and develop education for funeral services and embalming or thanatopraxy throughout the world and achieve uniform standards and regulations; […]2014, “International Federation of Thanatologists Associations (IFTA)”, in Union of International Associations, editor, Yearbook of...

Origin of thanatopraxy

From French thanatopraxie, German Thanatopraxie, Spanish tanatopraxia, ultimately from Ancient Greek θάνατος (thánatos, “dead body”) + πρᾶξις (prâxis, “practice”). Doublet of thanatopraxis.

Questions about thanatopraxy

What does thanatopraxy mean?
Thanatopraxy means embalming.
How do you use thanatopraxy in a sentence?
The subject of this discussion is embalming, or as it is often called in Europe—thanatopraxy.
What part of speech is thanatopraxy?
Thanatopraxy is a noun.

Words near thanatopraxy in the dictionary

  1. thanatophoric
  2. thanatopic
  3. thanatopolitical
  4. thanatopolitics
  5. thanatopraxis
  6. thanatopraxy
  7. thanatopses
  8. thanatopsis
  9. Thanatos
  10. thanatoses
  11. thanatosis

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: thanatopraxy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “thanatopraxy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/thanatopraxy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.