Table of Contents
Definition of Mortality Rate
(noun) The rate of deaths in a population over a year expressed per 1000.
Mortality Rate Pronunciation
Syllabification: mor·tal·i·ty rate
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /mor-tAl-uh-tee rAYt/
- British English – /maw-tAl-i-tee rAYt/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /mɔrˈtæləti reɪt/
- British English – /mɔːˈtælɪti reɪt/
Usage Notes
- Plural: mortality rates
- The mortality rate is one of several rates called social statistics studied by sociologists in addition to the birth rate, divorce rate, and fertility rate.
- Also called:
- death rate (deathrate)
- fatality rate
Additional Information
- Death and Dying Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Quantitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “mortality” and “rate” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
- attribute
- cohort
- empirical evidence
- population
- population composition
- population pyramid
- reliability
- spurious correlation
- statistics
Works Consulted
Brinkerhoff, David, Lynn White, Suzanne Ortega, and Rose Weitz. 2011. Essentials of Sociology. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Jary, David, and Julia Jary. 2000. Collins Dictionary of Sociology. 3rd ed. Glasgow, Scotland: HarperCollins.
Kimmel, Michael S., and Amy Aronson. 2012. Sociology Now. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).
Cite the Definition of Mortality Rate
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “mortality rate.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved October 15, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/mortality-rate/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
mortality rate. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/mortality-rate/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “mortality rate.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed October 15, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/mortality-rate/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“mortality rate.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 15 Oct. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/mortality-rate/>.