Definition of mortality
1 : the quality or state of being mortal Her husband's death reminded her of her own mortality.
2 : the death of large numbers (as of people or animals) trying to reduce infant mortality
3 archaic : death
4 : the human race that natural extinction to which all mortality is subject — Thomas Paine
5a : the number of deaths in a given time or place The mortality among the infected mounted daily.b : the proportion of deaths to population a brain infection with a mortality rate of about 30 percent — Jane E. Brodyc : the number lost or the rate of loss or failure the mortality rate of small businesses
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Examples of mortality in a Sentence
a leading cause of mortality
Recent Examples of mortality from the Web
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Breastmilk has been shown to considerably reduce the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis, a gut infection that mainly affects premature babies and has a high mortality rate.
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Its infant mortality rate, for one, dropped by almost three-quarters since 2000, to 31 per 1,000 births in 2015, vastly outpacing the decline in its region.
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In the other two studies, researchers with Kaiser Permanente and the University of California, San Francisco found a higher degree of dementia risk for people born in states with high rates of infant mortality.
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Nonetheless, infant mortality has generally declined at a faster rate for blacks than whites, leading to hope that the disparity might eventually disappear.
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The CDC in its weekly online morbidity and mortality report dated July 7 urged health-care givers to consider consumption of wild game when evaluating suspected trichinosis cases.
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Over the last decade, American donations to fight malaria in Africa have saved the lives of nearly two million children, according to a new analysis of mortality rates in 32 countries there.
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Mothers and families might have to purchase additional coverage for pregnancies, said the March of Dimes, a foundation fighting against birth defects and infant mortality.
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Maternal mortality rates are generally on the decline, so Saudi Arabia’s rate may have improved in the past seven years.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mortality.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Thoughts On mortality
Young people tend to assume they will never die, but a person's sense of his or her mortality generally increases year by year, and often increases greatly after a serious accident or illness. Still, many people refuse to change behaviors that would improve their chances of living into old age. Mortality rates are calculated by government agencies, insurance companies, and medical researchers. Infant mortality rates (the rate at which infants die in childbirth) provide a good indicator of a country's overall health; in recent years, the rates in countries like Iceland, Singapore, and Japan have been much better than in the U.S.
First Known Use of mortality
15th century
Other Biology Terms
MORTALITY Defined for English Language Learners
mortality
playDefinition of mortality for English Language Learners
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: the quality or state of being a person or thing that is alive and therefore certain to die : the quality or state of being mortal
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: the death of a person, animal, etc.
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: the number of deaths that occur in a particular time or place
Medical Dictionary
mortality
playMedical Definition of mortality
mortalities
1: the quality or state of being mortal
2a: the number of deaths in a given time or placeb: the proportion of deaths to population : death rate—called also mortality rate; compare fertility 2, morbidity 2
Learn More about mortality
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See words that rhyme with mortality Spanish Central: Translation of mortality Nglish: Translation of mortality for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of mortality for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about mortality
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