lich

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   archaic: a corpse or dead body, surviving especially in compounds such as lich-gate or lych-gate

   The old lych gate sheltered the coffin before burial.

2. 2
   noun

   fantasy: an undead being, often a sorcerer who has preserved its existence by magic

   The adventurers entered the tomb of an ancient lich.

From Old English lic, 'body or corpse,' cognate with German Leiche. The spelling lych survives especially in lych-gate, the covered gateway through which a coffin was brought into a churchyard. Modern fantasy revived lich for an intelligent undead being.

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