Evidence has accumulated in recent years that programmed cell death (PCD) is not necessarily synonymous with the classical apoptosis, as defined by Kerr & Wyllie (J Path, 1973, 111:255–261), but that cells use a variety of pathways to undergo cell death, which are reflected by different morphologies. Although chondrocytes with the hallmark features of classical apoptosis have been demonstrated in culture, such cells are extremely rare in vivo. We have examined the morphological differences between dying chondrocytes and classical apoptotic cells in growth plate and osteoarthritic chondrocytes. Unlike classical apoptosis, chondrocyte death involves an increase in the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus. This is likely to reflect an increase in protein synthesis with retention of proteins in the ER leading to expansion of the ER lumen, whose membranes surround and compartmentalise organelles and parts of cytoplasm. The final removal of apoptotic remains does not involve phagocytosis, but a combination of three routes: 1) auto-digestion of cellular material within compartments formed by ER membranes; 2) autophagic vacuoles and 3) extrusion of cell remnants into the lacunae. Together these processes lead to complete self-destruction of the chondrocyte as evidenced by the presence of empty lacunae. The involvement of ER suggests that the endoplasmic reticulum pathway of apoptosis may play a greater role in chondroptosis than receptor-mediated and mitochondrial pathways. Lysosomal proteases, present in autophagic digestion, are likely to be as important as caspases in the programmed cell death of chondrocytes in vivo. We propose the term ‘chondroptosis’ to reflect the fact that such cells are undergoing apoptosis, albeit in a non-classical manner, but one that appears to be typical of programmed chondrocyte death in vivo. Chondroptosis may serve to eliminate cells that are not phagocytosed by neighboring cells, which constitutes a crucial advantage for chondrocytes that are typically embedded in an extracellular matrix. Classical apoptosis in that situation is likely to lead to secondary necrosis with all its disadvantages. This may be the reason why most programmed cell death of chondrocytes in vivo appears to follow a chondroptotic pattern and not the classical apoptotic pattern. At present the initiation factors or the molecular pathways involved in chondroptosis remain unclear.