mortality

Language: en

🇬🇧 /ˌmɔˈːtælɪti/ 🇺🇸 /mɔˈrtælətiː/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    The state of being subject to death; the condition of being mortal.; The rate of death in a population, often expressed as the number of deaths per unit of time per unit of population.; A large number of deaths, especially due to war, disease, or disaster.; The human race; mankind as a whole, considered as mortal beings.; The quality or condition of being temporary, transient, or impermanent.; In insurance and actuarial science, the proportion of individuals in a group who die within a specified period.

🔗 Details

Word forms

countable / uncountable Plural: mortalities

Collocations

mortality rateinfant mortalitymortality tablechildhood mortalitymortality riskexcess mortality

Derivatives

mortalimmortalimmortalitymortallymortalize

Synonyms

death ratefatalitylethalitytransienceimpermanence

Antonyms

immortalitylongevity

Commonly confused

fatality
EN: 'Fatality' refers to a specific death or the quality of being fatal; 'mortality' refers to the overall condition of being subject to death or the statistical death rate.
morbidity
EN: 'Morbidity' refers to the incidence of disease or illness in a population; 'mortality' refers to the incidence of death.

Spelling tips

EN: No common spelling issues. Note the single 'l' in 'mortality' (from 'mortal' + '-ity').

💬 Examples

  1. The philosopher spent his life contemplating human mortality.

  2. Infant mortality has decreased significantly over the past century.

  3. The mortality from the epidemic was devastating.

  4. The invention was a great gift to all of mortality.

  5. The mortality of all earthly things is a theme in much of poetry.

  6. Actuaries use mortality tables to calculate life insurance premiums.