hearse

Use hearse in a sentence

The rear window of a hearse.

noun

The definition of a hearse is a vehicle that transports a coffin carrying the dead.

The big car driven by an undertaker that the deceased's coffin goes in at a funeral is an example of a hearse.

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"hearse." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/hearse>.

APA Style

hearse. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/hearse

hearse

an automobile or carriage, used in a funeral for carrying the corpse
1. a framelike structure above a coffin or tomb, for candles, hangings, etc.
2. a triangular framework to hold candles at Tenebrae
Archaic a bier or coffin

Origin of hearse

Middle English herce from OFr, a harrow, grated portcullis from Classical Latin hirpex, a large rake with iron teeth from dial (Sabine) irpus, wolf (hence, literally , wolf-tooth device)

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MLA Style

"hearse." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/hearse>.

APA Style

hearse. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/hearse

hearse

noun

A vehicle for conveying a coffin to a church or cemetery.
Christianity A triangular candelabrum used at Tenebrae during Holy Week.
A framelike structure over a coffin or tomb on which to hang epitaphs.

Origin of hearse

Middle English herse a harrow-shaped structure for holding candles over a coffin from Old French herce from Medieval Latin hercia from Latin hirpex hirpic- harrow probably from Oscan hirpus wolf (alluding to its teeth)

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"hearse." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/hearse>.

APA Style

hearse. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/hearse

Noun

(plural hearses)

A hind in the second year of its age.
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.
A bier or handbarrow for conveying the dead to the grave.
A carriage or vehicle specially adapted or used for transporting a dead person to the place of funeral or to the grave.

Verb

(third-person singular simple present hearses, present participle hearsing, simple past and past participle hearsed)

(dated) To enclose in a hearse; to entomb.

Origin

From Old French herce, from Medieval Latin hercia, from Latin herpicem, hirpex; ultimately from Oscan (“wolf”), a reference to the teeth. The Oscan term is related to Latin hirsutus (“bristly, shaggy”).

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.