tower of silence

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English

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Etymology

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The Yazd Tower of Silence in Yazd, Iran, which is no longer in use since the practice of excarnation was banned in the 1960s.

Calque of French tour du silence,[1] from the fact that human voices are generally not heard at such places.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tower of silence (plural towers of silence)

  1. (Zoroastrianism) A low, cylindrical, open-topped tower where Zoroastrians place the bodies of deceased people to disintegrate from exposure and consumption by carrion birds such as vultures, the remaining bones being kept in an ossuary.
    Synonyms: dakhma, doongerwadi

Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Tower of Silence, n.” under silence, n. and int.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2022.

Further reading

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