thanatologist
Studies dying process
A thanatologist studies death, dying, and the psychological mechanisms for coping with them.
The field encompasses end-of-life care, grief counseling, and the cultural practices surrounding death.
Thanatologists work in hospices, funeral services, and academic research: The thanatologist helped the family understand what to expect in the final days.
Preserving dead bodies chemically
- burialPlacing deceased underground
- cremationBurning the deceased
- funeralService honoring the dead
- mortuaryFacility housing corpses
cemetery · epitaph · obituary · eulogy · wake · viewing · casket · urn
Medical examination after death
- postmortemExamination after death
- cadaverBody for dissection
- necropsyAnimal postmortem examination
- forensicsScientific crime-scene analysis
pathology · histology · decomposition · bioethics · fieldwork · academia · scholarship · dissertation
Period following loss
- bereavementState following loss
- lossBeing without something
- sorrowDeep emotional distress
- grievingFeeling sorrow after loss
lamentation · consolation · coping · healing · acceptance · counseling · remembrance · memorial
Ceasing to live
- finitudeState of being bounded
- impermanenceQuality of not lasting
- transienceBrevity of existence
- ephemeralityCondition of being brief
lifespan · aging · senescence · end-of-life · existential · palliative · prognosis · decline
Innermost animating essence
- spiritSoul, mood, or liquor
- reincarnationSoul's rebirth after death
- heavenSky or bliss
- hellUnderworld of suffering
purgatory · nirvana · samsara · karma · ancestors · underworld · resurrection · transcendence
embalming
Preserving dead bodies chemically
mortuary · cemetery · epitaph · obituary · eulogy · wake · viewing · casket · urn · mausoleum
autopsy
Medical examination after death
- postmortemExamination after death
- cadaverBody for dissection
- necropsyAnimal postmortem examination
forensics · pathology · histology · decomposition · bioethics · fieldwork · academia · scholarship · dissertation · methodology
mourning
Period following loss
- bereavementState following loss
- lossBeing without something
- sorrowDeep emotional distress
grieving · lamentation · consolation · coping · healing · acceptance · counseling · remembrance · memorial · condolence
dying
Ceasing to live
- finitudeState of being bounded
- impermanenceQuality of not lasting
- transienceBrevity of existence
ephemerality · lifespan · aging · senescence · end-of-life · existential · palliative · prognosis · decline · fragility
soul
Innermost animating essence
- spiritSoul, mood, or liquor
- reincarnationSoul's rebirth after death
- heavenSky or bliss
hell · purgatory · nirvana · samsara · karma · ancestors · underworld · resurrection · transcendence · bardo
thanatologistneonatologist
Doctor for newborns
natalist · obstetrician · midwife · perinatologist · vitalist
euthanasia, thanatology, euthanasic, thanatophobia, euthanatize, euthanatized