tower of silence

== English == === Etymology === Calque of French tour du silence, from the fact that human voices are generally not heard at such places. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌtaʊɚ‿əv ˈsaɪl(ə)ns/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˌtaʊɚ‿əv ˈsaɪləns/ Rhymes: -aɪləns Hyphenation: tow‧er of sil‧ence === Noun === tower of silence (plural towers of silence) (Zoroastrianism) A low, cylindrical, open-topped tower where Zoroastrians place the bodies of deceased people to disintegrate from exposure and consumption by carrion birds such as vultures, the remaining bones being kept in an ossuary. Synonyms: dakhma, doongerwadi ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== sky burial === References === === Further reading === Tower of Silence on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Tower of Silence (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia “tower of silence, n.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present, reproduced from Stuart Berg Flexner, editor in chief, Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: Random House, 1993, →ISBN.