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charnel house
charnel house a building or vault in which corpses or bones are piled; in extended usage, a place associated with violent death.
The term comes (in the mid 16th century) from Middle English charnel ‘burying place’, and ultimately via Old French and medieval Latin, from late Latin carnalis ‘relating to flesh’, from Latin caro, carn- ‘flesh’. |
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Cite this article
ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "charnel house." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "charnel house." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-charnelhouse.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "charnel house." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-charnelhouse.html |
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charnel house
char·nel house • n. hist. a building or vault in which corpses or bones are piled. ∎ fig. a place associated with violent death. |
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Cite this article
"charnel house." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "charnel house." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-charnelhouse.html "charnel house." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-charnelhouse.html |
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