Meanings
plural Leichenhauses
- historicalA heated space with an attendant, where dead bodies were kept until they showed signs of decomposition, ensuring that a live person would not be buried; a waiting mortuary.
Just be glad you're not an attendant at the Liechenhaus.
2019, Caitlin Doughty, Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs: Big questions from tiny mortals about death, page 422 more examples
The Leichenhaus is comprised of three large chambers or salons, in which the dead are placed upon raised couches and surrounded by flowers.
1894, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, From Ponkapog to Pesth, page 35“Welcome to the Hillmont Leichenhaus,” said the attendant in a tired monotone. “Our Leichenhaus was built by the Society for the Prevention of Premature Burial, Hillmont branch. […]"
2007, John Klima, Jeff VanderMeer, Elizabeth Hand, Logorrhea: Good Words Make Good Stories, page 57
Origin
- GermanLeichenhaus
- EnglishLeichenhaus
Borrowed from German Leichenhaus, from Leiche (“corpse”) + -n- + Haus (“house”).
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Leichenhaus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Leichenhaus
“Leichenhaus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Leichenhaus. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Leichenhaus,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Leichenhaus.
Source: Leichenhaus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.