Dictionary-Definition.com :: Mortality definition

Definition of 'mortality'

noun

The quality or state of being mortal [ant: immortality]

noun

The ratio of deaths in an area to the population of that area; expressed per 1000 per year [syn: deathrate, death rate, mortality, mortality rate, fatality rate]

From: GCIDE

Mortality \Mor*tal"i*ty\, n. [L. mortalitas: cf. F. mortalit['e].]
1. The condition or quality of being mortal; subjection to death or to the necessity of dying. [1913 Webster]
When I saw her die, I then did think on your mortality. --Carew. [1913 Webster]
2. Human life; the life of a mortal being. [1913 Webster]
From this instant There 's nothing serious in mortality. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
3. Those who are, or that which is, mortal; the human race; humanity; human nature. [1913 Webster]
Take these tears, mortality's relief. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
4. Death; destruction. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
5. The whole sum or number of deaths in a given time or a given community; also, the proportion of deaths to population, or to a specific number of the population; death rate; as, a time of great, or low, mortality; the mortality among the settlers was alarming. [1913 Webster]
Bill of mortality. See under Bill.
Law of mortality, a mathematical relation between the numbers living at different ages, so that from a given large number of persons alive at one age, it can be computed what number are likely to survive a given number of years.
Table of mortality, a table exhibiting the average relative number of persons who survive, or who have died, at the end of each year of life, out of a given number supposed to have been born at the same time. [1913 Webster]