thanatology

noun

than·a·tol·o·gy ˌtha-nə-ˈtä-lə-jē

: the description or study of the phenomena of death and of psychological mechanisms for coping with them

thanatological

ˌtha-nə-tə-ˈlä-ji-kəl

adjective

thanatologist

ˌtha-nə-ˈtä-lə-jist

noun

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In Greek mythology, Thanatos was the personification of death and the twin brother of Hypnos (Sleep). The ancient Greeks eventually came to use thanatos as a generic word for "death." Thanatology is a direct linguistic heir of the Greek term and was first documented in English in the mid-1800s. As a science, thanatology examines attitudes toward death, the meaning and behaviors of bereavement and grief, and other matters. In 1935, the word thanatos itself made its debut in English, ushered in with psychoanalytic theory to describe an unconscious tendency toward self-destruction.

Examples of thanatology in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Georgopoulos suggests looking for groups led by facilitators who have group expertise and a specialty in grief or bereavement or thanatology. —

Erica Lamberg, USA TODAY, 25 Mar. 2020 Another thirty-five years passed before the paper was translated into English and published, in Omega, a journal of thanatology, by Russell Noyes, Jr., a psychiatrist at the University of Iowa. —

Rachel Aviv, The New Yorker, 2 Apr. 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'thanatology.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.