The stiffening of the muscles that occurs after death; Latin for 'death,' used in medical terminology like 'rigor mortis.'
From Latin 'mors' (death), used in scientific Latin phrases. 'Mortis' is the genitive form, meaning 'of death.' Roman law and medicine adopted this word for precise documentation.
The phrase 'rigor mortis' literally means 'stiffness of death,' and forensic scientists use it to estimate time of death because muscles stiffen in a predictable pattern—it was one of the earliest ways detectives could use biology as physical evidence before DNA existed.
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