The word morgue comes from the name of a building, originally in Paris, where bodies were laid out for identification. In a Department or Institute of Forensic Medicine the mortuary is the place where dead bodies are stored temporarily and the autopsy is performed.

: a place in which dead bodies are kept until burial especially : funeral home.

adjective. of or relating to the burial of the dead. pertaining to or connected with death.

MORTUARY (noun) definition and synonyms | Macmillan Dictionary.

nounmortuaries. A room or building in which dead bodies are kept, for hygienic storage or for examination, until burial or cremation.

In many countries, the family of the deceased must make the burial within 72 hours (three days) of death, but in some other countries it is usual that burial takes place some weeks or months after the death. This is why some corpses are kept as long as one or two years at a hospital or in a funeral home.

Although the right to a decent burial has long been recognized at common law, no universal rule exists as to whom the right of burial is granted. The right to possession of a dead human body for the purpose of burial is, under ordinary circumstances, in the spouse or other relatives of the deceased.

Funeral homes have a daily charge for storing a body, even if it is embalmed. Other homes may charge a lump sum for a set number of days. Storage fees range from $35 to $100 per day.

When the funeral director begins the embalming process, he places the body on a special porcelain or stainless steel table that looks much like what you’d find in an operating room. He washes the body with soap and water and positions it with the hands crossed over the abdomen, as you’d see them appear in a casket.

A mixture of these chemicals is known as embalming fluid, and is used to preserve deceased individuals, sometimes only until the funeral, other times indefinitely. Typical embalming fluid contains a mixture of formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, methanol, humectants and wetting agents, and other solvents that can be used.

In a temperate climate, it usually requires three weeks to several years for a body to completely decompose into a skeleton, depending on factors such as temperature, humidity, presence of insects, and submergence in a substrate such as water.

Feelings of peace and joy. Feelings of being separated from the body. A sense of being in a different, unearthly place.