noun / verb
coffin
KAW-fin/ˈkɔːfɪn/
A box for a dead body to be buried in.
The closed wooden coffin rests on a set of low supports.
Etymology
The ancestral “basket” developed into a general chest or box, including one for valuables. In English, the word later specialized in the box that holds a body for burial.
In context
the body is supposed to be buried in a plain wooden coffin that can return the body to the ground quickly and easily
More examples
- Six pallbearers carry the coffin out of the chapel.
- Her family chooses a plain coffin for the burial.
- The body is coffined before the funeral begins.
Forms
coffin · coffins · coffined · coffining
Similar words
- casket
- A common American alternative, often suggesting a rectangular burial box.
- sarcophagus
- A stone coffin, often decorated and placed above ground.