charnel

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a vault or building where corpses or bones are deposited
  2. adjective gruesomely indicative of death or the dead

Etymology

From Middle English charnel, from Old French charnel, carnel, from Late Latin carnāle (“graveyard”), from Latin carnālis, or possibly an alteration of Anglo-Norman charner, from Medieval Latin carnārium (“charnel”). Displaced Middle English fleshusse, from Old English flǣsċhūs.

Synonyms

charnel house

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