Coroner

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Coroner \Cor"o*ner\ (k?r"?-n?r), n. [From OE. coronen to crown,
     OF. coroner, fr. L. coronare, fr. corona crown. Formed as a
     translation of LL. coronator coroner, fr. L. corona crown,
     the coroner having been originally a prosecuting officer of
     the crown. See {Crown}.]
     An officer of the peace whose principal duty is to inquire,


     with the help of a jury, into the cause of any violent,
     sudden or mysterious death, or death in prison, usually on
     sight of the body and at the place where the death occurred.
     [In England formerly also written and pronounced {crowner}.]
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: In some of the United States the office of coroner is
           abolished, that of medical examiner taking its place.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {Coroner's inquest}. See under {Inquest}.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  coroner
       n : a public official who investigates by inquest any death not
           due to natural causes [syn: {medical examiner}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  32 Moby Thesaurus words for "coroner":
     Doctor of Medicine, GP, MD, allopath, allopathist,
     attending physician, autopsy, country doctor, croaker, doc, doctor,
     family doctor, general practitioner, house physician, inquest,
     intern, leech, medical attendant, medical examiner, medical man,
     medical practitioner, medico, mortality committee, necropsy,
     necroscopy, physician, physician in ordinary, postmortem,
     postmortem examination, resident, resident physician, sawbones
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  CORONER. An officer whose principal duty it is to hold an inquisition, with 
  the assistance of a jury, over the body of any person who may have come to a 
  violent death, or who has died in prison. It is his duty also, in case of 
  the death of the sheriff, or when a vacancy happens in that office, to serve 
  all the writs and process which the sheriff is usually bound to serve. The 
  chief justice of the King's Bench is the sovereign or chief coroner of all 
  England, although it is not to be understood that he performs the active 
  duties of that office in any one count. 4 Rep. 57, b. Vide Bac. Ab. h.t.; 6 
  Vin. Ab.242; 3 Com. Dig. 242; 5 Com. Dig. 212; and the articles Death; 
  Inquisition. 
       2. The duties of the coroner are of the greatest consequence to 
  society, both for the purpose of bringing to punishment murderers and other 
  offenders against the lives of the citizens, and of protecting innocent 
  persons from criminal accusations. His office, it is to be regretted, is 
  regarded with too much indifference. This officer should be properly 
  acquainted with the medical and legal knowledge so absolutely indispensable 
  in the faithful discharge of his office. It not unfrequently happens that 
  the public mind is deeply impressed with the guilt of the accused, and when 
  probably he is guilty, and yet the imperfections of the early examinations 
  leave no alternative to the jury but to acquit. It is proper in most cases 
  to procure the examination to be made by a physician, and in some cases, it 
  is his duty. 4 Car. & P. 571.