Thanatology
/ˌθænəˈtɒlədʒi/noun
The study of death and the practices associated with dying, grief, and bereavement.
Did you know?Thanatology comes from Thanatos, the Greek personification of death, so the word carries an ancient mythic shadow even though modern thanatology is a clinical field.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
Θάνατος (Thánatos)
“Death; the personified god or spirit of death”
Ancient Greek
Greek
-λογία (-logía)
“Study, discourse, or systematic account”
Late 19th Century
English
thanatology
“A scholarly study of death and dying”
Modern English
English
thanatology
“The interdisciplinary study of death, dying, and bereavement”