A building or room where dead bodies are kept, typically for identification or examination.
From French 'morgue,' possibly from the name of a building in Paris (la Morgue) where unclaimed bodies were displayed from the 17th century onward. The term became generalized from this specific location.
The Paris Morgue became a public spectacle in the 1800s—people would line up to view unidentified bodies, making it one of the first 'attractions' that blended morbid curiosity with detective work.
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