death certificate

noun

: an official document that gives information about a person's death (such as when and how the death happened)

Examples of death certificate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The number of deaths directly attributed to vitamin K deficiency bleeding appears to be small — fewer than a dozen annually — but has started to climb in recent years, according to death certificate data from federal and state agencies. —Duaa Eldeib, CNN Money, 8 May 2026

Dane died from respiratory failure, according to a death certificate obtained by PEOPLE. —Deirdre Durkan, PEOPLE, 8 May 2026

The number of deaths directly attributed to vitamin K deficiency bleeding appears to be small—fewer than a dozen annually—but has started to climb in recent years, according to death certificate data from federal and state agencies. —Lee Hutchinson, ArsTechnica, 6 May 2026

The number of deaths directly attributed to vitamin K deficiency bleeding appears to be small — fewer than a dozen annually — but has started to climb in recent years, according to death certificate data from federal and state agencies. —Duaa Eldeib, ProPublica, 6 May 2026

Legal Definition

death certificate

noun

: a document setting forth information (as age, occupation, and place of birth) relating to a dead person and including a doctor's certification of the cause of death

Note: Death certificates are issued by a particular public official, as a city or town clerk. A death certificate is required to document a person's death for certain purposes, as to file an estate tax return or to probate an estate.