soulscot

Etymology

From Middle English saulesoth, *soulescot, from sāwolsċeatt (“an ecclesiastical due, to be paid for every deceased person to the clergy of the church to which he belonged, in consideration of the services performed by them in his behalf”), equivalent to soul + scot.

Why this word is great

SOULSCOT — [Noun] A funeral payment, traditionally made to the parish priest for services rendered for the deceased. From Middle English saulesoth, *soulescot*, from Old English sāwolsċeatt ("an ecclesiastical due paid for the deceased"), equivalent to soul + scot ("payment, tax"). Unlike "mortuary" (which sprawls into the secular realm of funeral homes) or "sanctuary" (which evokes hallowed refuge), soulscot is a transactional relic of spiritual economy. It is the weight of coins pressed into a priest’s palm at the church door, the ledger’s ink-stained entry beside a name now crossed out, the quiet arithmetic of salvation—proof that even the passage from life to dust was once measured in shillings.

noun

A funeral payment, formerly made at the grave, usually to the parish priest in whose church service for the departed had been said; a mortuary.“O, by my soulscot, I do love to tell My stories with the haste I often count, At drowsy night, my Paternoster belt.”