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Origin and history of ossuary

ossuary(n.)

"urn or vase for the bones of the dead;" also "place where bones of the dead are deposited," 1650s, from Late Latin ossuarium "charnel house, receptacle for bones of the dead," from neuter of Latin ossuarius "of bones," from Latin os (plural ossua) "bone" (from PIE root *ost- "bone") on model of mortuarium.

also from 1650s

Entries linking to ossuary

*ost-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "bone."

It might form all or part of: osseous; ossicle; ossuary; ossifrage; ossify; osteo-; osteology; osteopathy; ostracism; ostracize; oyster; periosteum.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit asthi, Hittite hashtai-, Greek osteon "bone," Greek ostrakon "oyster shell," Avestan ascu- "shinbone," Latin os (genitive ossis) "bone," osseus "bony, of bone," Welsh asgwrn, Armenian oskr, Albanian asht "bone."

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    Trends of ossuary

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    favor
    c. 1300, "attractiveness, beauty, charm" (archaic), from Old French favor "a favor; approval, praise; applause; partiality" (13c., Modern French faveur), from Latin favorem (nominative favor) "good will, inclination, partiality, support," coined by Cicero from stem of favere "to
    lead
    "to guide," Old English lædan (transitive) "cause to go with oneself; march at the head of, go before as a guide, accompany and show the way; carry on; sprout forth, bring forth; pass (one's life)," causative of liðan "to travel," from Proto-Germanic *laidjanan (source also of Ol
    obsess
    c. 1500, "to besiege" (a sense now obsolete), from Latin obsessus, past participle of obsidere "watch closely; besiege, occupy; stay, remain, abide" literally "sit opposite to," from ob "against" (see ob-) + sedere "to sit," from PIE root *sed- (1) "to sit." Of evil spirits, "to
    certain
    c. 1300, "determined, fixed," from Old French certain "reliable, sure, assured" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *certanus, extended form of Latin certus "determined, resolved, fixed, settled," of things whose qualities are invariable, "established," also "placed beyond doubt, sure, tru
    desert
    c. 1600, transitive, "to leave, abandon," either in a good or bad sense; 1640s, in reference to military service or duty, "leave without permission;" from French déserter "cause to leave," literally "undo or sever connection," from Late Latin desertare, frequentative of Latin des
    boast
    mid-13c., "arrogance, presumption, pride, vanity;" c. 1300, "a brag, boastful speech," from Anglo-French bost "ostentation," probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Norwegian baus "proud, bold, daring"), from Proto-Germanic *bausia "to blow up, puff up, swell" (source also o
    pagan
    c. 1400, perhaps mid-14c., "person of non-Christian or non-Jewish faith," from Late Latin paganus "pagan," in classical Latin "villager, rustic; civilian, non-combatant" noun use of adjective meaning "of the country, of a village," from pagus "country people; province, rural dist
    pound
    [fundamental unit of weight] Old English pund "pound" (in weight or money), also "pint," from Proto-Germanic *punda- "pound" as a measure of weight (source of Gothic pund, Old High German phunt, German Pfund, Middle Dutch pont, Old Frisian and Old Norse pund), an early borrowing
    image
    c. 1200, "piece of statuary; artificial representation that looks like a person or thing," from Old French image "image, likeness; figure, drawing, portrait; reflection; statue," earlier imagene (11c.), from Latin imaginem (nominative imago) "copy, imitation, likeness; statue, pi

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