muertes

Muertes is the plural form of muerte in Spanish, referring to deaths—the event of dying or the state of being dead. The term is used across clinical, demographic, legal, and journalistic contexts to indicate the number of people who have died or to discuss deaths as a phenomenon.

In statistical reporting, muertes is used with modifiers to specify causes or circumstances: muertes por enfermedad, muertes por causas externas, muertes maternas, y similares. The related concept is la tasa de mortalidad (mortality rate). For example, “En 2020 se registraron 3,200 muertes por todas las causas.”

In legal and administrative contexts, a death is recorded in documents such as certificado de defunción or registro de muertes, and civil registries monitor muertes alongside nacimientos and matrimonios.

Etymology: muertes derives from muerte, from Latin mors, mortis. The noun is feminine (las muertes) and forms plural to match the subject.

Cultural and linguistic notes: in literature, media, and everyday speech, muertes can symbolize fate or social concerns, but the term remains primarily a neutral, factual descriptor in data reporting and records.