hearse means A framework of wood or metal placed over the coffin or tomb of a deceased person, and covered with a pall; also, a temporary canopy bearing wax lights and set up in a church, under which the coffin was placed during the funeral ceremonies. It carries an Arena rating of 1650, earned across 24 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, hearse ranks #574 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #799 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #1,976 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #2,316 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words.
hearse is pronounced /hɜːs/.
Why “hearse” is a great word
HEARSE — [Noun] A vehicle for conveying the dead to the grave, originally a triangular framework for holding candles over a coffin. From Middle English herse, from Old French herce ("harrow; triangular framework for candles"), from Latin hirpex ("harrow"), a borrowing from Oscan hirpus ("wolf"), likely from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰers- ("stiff, bristled"). The sense evolved from a candle-bearing framework over a coffin to the vehicle itself by the 1640s. Unlike a bier—a simple, portable litter—or a catafalque—a stationary, decorative platform—a hearse is the dedicated, rolling conveyance. It is the black lacquer’s cold sheen, the scent of wax and lilies trapped within its glass, and the slow, geometric certainty of its form against the soft chaos of the graveyard—a mobile island of ceremony, ferrying its quiet cargo from the realm of the living into memory.
Etymology
From Middle English herse, hers, herce, from Old French herce in the sense "triangular framework used to support candles". Ultimately the same word as Old French herce (“harrow”), from Latin *herpicem, accusative singular of *herpex, a variant form of hirpex (“harrow”). The agricultural device's name comes from Oscan hirpus (“wolf”), a reference to a harrow's many teeth. The term for wolf may ultimately be from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰers- (“stiff, rigid, bristled”). The Oscan term is related to Latin hīrsūtus (“bristly, shaggy”), whence English hirsute. The TLFi considers the "framework to support candles" sense of the French word to be derived more specifically from Medieval Latin hercia; in any case, this is ultimately from the same source. (Du Cange sees in hercia a contraction of an ex
noun
- A framework of wood or metal placed over the coffin or tomb of a deceased person, and covered with a pall; also, a temporary canopy bearing wax lights and set up in a church, under which the coffin was placed during the funeral ceremonies.
- A grave, coffin, tomb, or sepulchral monument.e.g.“underneath this sable hearse” — 1621, Ben Jonson, Epitath to Mary Herbert:
- A bier or handbarrow for conveying the dead to the grave.e.g.“Set down, set down your honourable load, / If honour may be shrouded in a hearse.” — c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[
- A carriage or vehicle specially adapted or used for transporting a dead person to the place of funeral or to the grave.
verb
- To enclose in a hearse; to entomb.e.g.“I would my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear! would she were hearsed at my foot, and the ducats in her coffin!” — c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blou
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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