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

This was also the case in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, which abandoned the novel’s complex (and, importantly, entertaining) moral quandaries in favor of a clock tower colossus doubling as a steam punk charnel house. —Literary Hub, 25 Feb. 2026

Thousands of homes and a sprawl of entire neighborhoods were transformed into outdoor charnel houses. —Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 10 Jan. 2025

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

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

1526, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for charnel

• carnal
• darnel

Kids Definition

charnel

noun

char·​nel ˈchärn-ᵊl 

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

charnel adjective