Meanings
nounossuary (plural ossuaries)
plural ossuaries
- A container, receptacle, or building, such as an urn or vault, for holding the bones of the dead.
Synonyms: charnel house
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA container, receptacle, or building, such as an urn or vault, for holding the bones of the dead.
Similar
Also see
Origin
- Latinos“bone”
- Late Latinossuārium“charnel house”
- Englishossuary
From Late Latin ossuārium (“charnel house”), from ossuārius (“of or for bones”), from compound of Latin os (“bone”) + adjectival suffix -ārius (“of, related to”).
More words from Late Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque hezurtegi
- hezurtegia place where the dead are buried
Bulgarian костница
- костница (kostnica)a place where the dead are buried
Catalan ossera, ossari
- osseraa place where the dead are buried
- ossaria place where the dead are buried
Chinese Cantonese 藏骨堂
- 藏骨堂 (cong⁴ gwat¹ tong⁴)a place where the dead are buried
Chinese Mandarin 骨穴, 藏古堂
- 骨穴 (gǔxué)a place where the dead are buried
- 藏古堂 (cánggǔtáng)a place where the dead are buried
- 骨罐 (gǔguàn)a place where the dead are buried
Czech kostnice
- kostnicea place where the dead are buried
Dutch ossuarium, knekelhuis
- ossuariuma place where the dead are buried
- knekelhuisa place where the dead are buried
Esperanto ostejo
- ostejoa place where the dead are buried
Finnish ossuaari, luuhuone
- ossuaaria place where the dead are buried
- luuhuonea place where the dead are buried
French ossuaire
- ossuairea place where the dead are buried
German Beinhaus, Ossarium
- Beinhausa place where the dead are buried
- Ossariuma place where the dead are buried
- Karnera place where the dead are buried
Greek οστεοφυλάκιο
- οστεοφυλάκιο (osteofylákio)a place where the dead are buried
Hungarian osszuárium
- osszuáriuma place where the dead are buried
Icelandic beinabúr, beinaklefi
- beinabúra place where the dead are buried
- beinaklefia place where the dead are buried
- beinahúsa place where the dead are buried
Indonesian osuari
- osuaria place where the dead are buried
Italian ossario
- ossarioa place where the dead are buried
Japanese 納骨堂, 骨壷
- 納骨堂 (nōkotsudō)a place where the dead are buried
- 骨壷 (kotsutsubo)a place where the dead are buried
Korean 봉안당, 납골당
- 봉안당 (bong'andang)a place where the dead are buried
- 납골당 (napgoldang)a place where the dead are buried
- 골당 (goldang)a place where the dead are buried
Latin ossuārium
- ossuāriuma place where the dead are buried
Māori toma
- tomaa place where the dead are buried
Norwegian ossuarium
- ossuariuma place where the dead are buried
Polish ossarium, ossuarium
- ossariuma place where the dead are buried
- ossuariuma place where the dead are buried
Portuguese ossário, ossuário
- ossárioa place where the dead are buried
- ossuárioa place where the dead are buried
Romanian osuar
- osuara place where the dead are buried
Russian оссуа́рий, ко́стница
- оссуа́рий (ossuárij)a place where the dead are buried
- ко́стница (kóstnica)a place where the dead are buried
Slovak karner, kostnica
- karnera place where the dead are buried
- kostnicaa place where the dead are buried
Spanish osario
- osarioa place where the dead are buried
Swedish ossuarium, benhus
- ossuariuma place where the dead are buried
- benhusa place where the dead are buried
- benurnaa place where the dead are buried
Ukrainian осуа́рій, кістни́ця
- осуа́рій (osuárij)a place where the dead are buried
- кістни́ця (kistnýcja)a place where the dead are buried
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
ossuary. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ossuary
MLA
“ossuary.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ossuary. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ossuary,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ossuary.
Source: ossuary on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.