Etymology

tower of silence

tow·er of sil·ence

Today it means: A low, cylindrical, open-topped tower where Zoroastrians place the bodies of deceased people to disintegrate from exposure and consumption by carrion birds such as vultures, the remaining bones being kept in an ossuary. Full definition →

French tour du silence
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The story

  1. French · calque oftour du silence
  2. English todaytower of silence

Calque of French tour du silence, from the fact that human voices are generally not heard at such places.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.