Dictionary

resomation en · NOUN

Etymology

From re- + soma + -ation.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A process for the disposal of a corpse by submerging it in a strong base compound at a high pressure and temperature until it dissolves.
   • Many consumers opt for cremation for environmental reasons, though it too carries the risk for air pollution. Some in the industry are looking to alternatives of body disposal such as freeze-drying (promession) and dissolving (resomation). 2009, Clifton D. Bryant with Dennis L. Peck, Encyclopedia of Death and the Human Experience, Sage Publications, →ISBN:
   • […] bodies were dissolved by resomation and the fluid evaporated to a powder that was ceremoniously scattered around the roots of newly planted trees. 2008, Paul J. McAuley, The Quiet War, page 186:
   • Enter resomation, an alternative to cremation for the eco-conscious cadaver. Resomation is a process that liquefies rather than burns body tissues. 2009, Ruth Davis Konigsberg, “The 9th annual year in ideas”, in The New York Times Magazine:

Forms

Relateds

resomate · resomator

Synonyms

flameless cremation · water cremation · biocremation · alkaline hydrolysis