charnel

noun

char·​nel ˈchär-nᵊl 

: a building or chamber in which bodies or bones are deposited

called also charnel house

charnel adjective

Examples of charnel in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For the Himalayan monks of the early teen centuries, the ideal setting for initiation was a charnel ground, where people left their dead to be eaten by wild animals. —Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 2 Jan. 2025

Flaherty’s descriptions of both the highs (rubies) and lows (charnel houses) of nonstop writing struck me as alien. —Molly Young, New York Times, 30 Dec. 2024

His third-floor office, in a dingy concrete building across a roaring four-lane road from the Ikeja market, is a charnel house of dead mobile phones. —Vince Beiser, WIRED, 30 Nov. 2024

Out of this charnel house where an American flag hung at one end, technicians hoped to identify 388 sailors and Marines from the Oklahoma. —Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French carnel, charnel, probably alteration of charner, from Medieval Latin carnarium, from Latin carn-, caro flesh — more at carnal

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

charnel

noun

char·​nel ˈchärn-ᵊl 

: a building or chamber in which dead bodies or bones are deposited

charnel adjective