death certificate

noun

: an official document that gives information about a person's death (such as when and how the death happened)

Examples of death certificate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Busch died in May from hemorrhagic shock and disseminated intravascular coagulation after complications from bacterial pneumonia led to sepsis, according to the former NASCAR star’s death certificate. — ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026

Meadows’ death certificate later listed his cause of death as drowning with probable hypothermia. — Deirdre Durkan, PEOPLE, 26 Sep. 2026

That connection is documented on the death certificate, a form most of us will never fill out and may not understand without some background. — Jess Steier, STAT, 25 Sep. 2026

Presley Gerber has been cremated, according to his death certificate, per TMZ. — Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Sep. 2026

Legal Definition

death certificate

noun

: a document setting forth information (as age, occupation, and place of birth) relating to a dead person and including a doctor's certification of the cause of death

Note: Death certificates are issued by a particular public official, as a city or town clerk. A death certificate is required to document a person's death for certain purposes, as to file an estate tax return or to probate an estate.