antemortem

or an·te-mor·tem, an·te mor·tem

[ an-tee-mawr-tuhm ]

adjective

1. before death:

   She made an antemortem confession.

   In commercial sheep flocks, diagnosis of endometritis is seldom made antemortem, and treatment is generally impractical.

Word History and Origins

Origin of antemortem¹

Borrowed into English from Latin around 1880–85

Example Sentences

Work is divided into two buckets: "postmortem" – analyzing remains – and "antemortem" – gathering information from surviving relatives.

From Reuters

Ploch said "there was no evidence of antemortem injury, such as manual strangulation, an assault or altercation, sharp, blunt or gunshot injury, infection, tumor, natural disease, congenital abnormality, or significant drug intoxication."

From Fox News

A veterinarian’s report, shared by Ciancimino's lawyer, recorded Rock’s “antemortem body temperature” to be at 106 degrees F, suggesting that "heatstroke led to the death of this dog."

From Fox News

The forum at Howard, as it turns out, was an antemortem, an examination of the factors that would contribute to protests and destruction only days away.

From Washington Post

"The report suggests antemortem hanging, which means the girls probably committed suicide," said Saxena, the police chief.

From The Guardian