cause of death
What killed them
Cause of death is the disease, injury, or condition that led to someone dying, as recorded on a death certificate or determined by a medical examiner: The cause of death was blunt force trauma.
In medical and legal contexts, the phrase distinguishes between immediate cause (what finally killed them) and underlying cause (what set the fatal process in motion).
Medical examination after death
- coronerPublic death investigator
- medical examinerPhysician determining death causes
- toxicologyScience of poisons
- postmortemExamination after death
inquest · ruling · undetermined · suspicious · foul play · examination · pathologist · morgue
Blocked blood to muscle
- strokeSudden brain blood blockage
- cancerUncontrolled cell proliferation disease
- aneurysmArterial wall bulge
- pneumoniaInfected, inflamed lung tissue
sepsis · organ failure · cardiac arrest · respiratory failure · asphyxiation · overdose · diabetes · infection
Unintended harmful event
- homicideCausing another's death
- suicideVoluntary death by oneself
- drowningDeath by water inhalation
- fallDescend under gravity
fire · electrocution · poisoning · strangulation · gunshot · stabbing · vehicular · starvation
Not yet discovered
- unsolvedNot yet figured out
- cold caseUnsolved crime, investigation suspended
- unexplainedNot yet clarified
- investigationFormal examination of facts
cover-up · inconclusive · disputed · questionable · unresolved · ambiguous · conspiracy
Final, irreversible phase
- palliativeOffering relief, not remedy
- hospiceTerminal illness comfort program
- incurableCannot be healed
- progressiveFavoring reform and innovation
advanced · debilitation · deterioration · terminal diagnosis · comfort care · prognosis · decline · wasting
autopsy
Medical examination after death
- coronerPublic death investigator
- medical examinerPhysician determining death causes
- toxicologyScience of poisons
postmortem · inquest · ruling · undetermined · suspicious · foul play · examination · pathologist · morgue · findings
heart attack
Blocked blood to muscle
- strokeSudden brain blood blockage
- cancerUncontrolled cell proliferation disease
- aneurysmArterial wall bulge
pneumonia · sepsis · organ failure · cardiac arrest · respiratory failure · asphyxiation · overdose · diabetes · infection · embolism
accident
Unintended harmful event
fall · fire · electrocution · poisoning · strangulation · gunshot · stabbing · vehicular · starvation · exposure
unknown
Not yet discovered
- unsolvedNot yet figured out
- cold caseUnsolved crime, investigation suspended
- unexplainedNot yet clarified
investigation · cover-up · inconclusive · disputed · questionable · unresolved · ambiguous · conspiracy
end-stage
Final, irreversible phase
- palliativeOffering relief, not remedy
- hospiceTerminal illness comfort program
- incurableCannot be healed
progressive · advanced · debilitation · deterioration · terminal diagnosis · comfort care · prognosis · decline · wasting
- forensic pathologyautopsy, coroner, medical examiner, pathologist, postmortem
- death lawprobate, estate tax, inheritance tax, inheritance law, executor
- death recordsvital records, certified copy, obituaries, vital record, registrar
- health statisticsmortality rate, prevalence, case fatality rate, life expectancy, infant mortality
- homicidehomicide, murder rate, murder rates, homicide rate, homicide rates
- postmortemspostmortem, post-mortem, autopsy, necropsy, postmortem exam