charnel (redirected from charnels)

char·nel  (chärnl)

n.

A repository for the bones or bodies of the dead; a charnel house.

adj.

Resembling, suggesting, or suitable for receiving the dead.

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[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin carnle, from neuter of Latin carnlis, of the flesh, from car, carn-, flesh; see sker-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	charnel - a vault or building where corpses or bones are deposited charnel house burial vault, vault - a burial chamber (usually underground)
Adj.	1.	charnel - gruesomely indicative of death or the dead; "a charnel smell came from the chest filled with dead men's bones"; "ghastly shrieks"; "the sepulchral darkness of the catacombs" ghastly, sepulchral offensive - unpleasant or disgusting especially to the senses; "offensive odors"