Glossary
Embalmer Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential embalmer terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key embalmer vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in embalmer training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Arterial embalming
- Injecting preservative into arteries.
- Case report
- Embalming documentation.
- Casketing
- Placing the deceased in a casket.
- Cavity embalming
- Treating internal organs.
- Cosmetizing
- Applying cosmetics to the deceased.
- Discoloration
- Changes in skin color.
- Distribution
- How fluid spreads through tissue.
- Formaldehyde
- A preservative chemical.
- PPE
- Personal protective equipment.
- Preparation room
- Where embalming is done.
- Restorative art
- Rebuilding features.
- Restorative wax
- Wax used to rebuild features.
- Setting features
- Positioning facial features.
- Trocar
- An instrument for cavity embalming.
- Universal precautions
- Treating all bodies as potentially infectious.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Embalmer practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Embalmer training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.