hearse

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a vehicle used to carry a coffin to a funeral or burial place

   The hearse moved slowly toward the cemetery, followed by the mourners' cars.

Simplified etymology

Hearse derives from Old French herce, meaning "harrow," and ultimately from Latin hirpex, the name of a large rake. The Latin word came from Oscan hirpus, "wolf," through a comparison between a wolf's teeth and the teeth of a rake. In medieval English, hearse could mean either a harrow-shaped frame for carrying candles in church or a canopy placed over a distinguished person's coffin. The modern sense of a vehicle carrying a coffin appeared in the mid-17th century.

From Middle English herse, through Old French herce ("harrow"), from Latin hirpex. The word first named a harrow-shaped framework holding candles over a coffin, then the funeral structure or bier, and finally the vehicle that carries the coffin.

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary