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• coffin
  coffin

  noun

  the box or case in which the body of a dead person is placed for burial; casket.
• Coffin
  Coffin

  noun

  Levi, 1798–1877, U.S. abolitionist leader.

coffin

¹ American  

[kaw-fin, kof-in] / ˈkɔ fɪn, ˈkɒf ɪn /

noun

• coffins
  plural

1. the box or case in which the body of a dead person is placed for burial; casket.

2. the part of a horse's foot containing the coffin bone.

3. Printing.

   1. the bed of a platen press.

   2. the wooden frame around the bed of an early wooden press.

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verb (used with object)

1. to put or enclose in or as in a coffin.

Coffin ² American  

[kaw-fin, kof-in] / ˈkɔ fɪn, ˈkɒf ɪn /

noun

1. Levi, 1798–1877, U.S. abolitionist leader.

2. Robert P(eter) Tristram, 1892–1955, U.S. poet, essayist, and biographer.

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coffin British  

/ ˈkɒfɪn /

noun

1. a box in which a corpse is buried or cremated

2. the part of a horse's foot that contains the coffin bone

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verb

1. (tr) to place in or as in a coffin

2. engineering another name for flask

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• uncoffin
  verb (used with object)
• coffinless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• coffins
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of coffin

1300–50; Middle English cofin < Old North French < Latin cophinus < Greek kóphinos a kind of basket

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Explanation

The long wooden box in which a dead body is kept for burial or cremation is called a coffin. At a graveside funeral, you'll see the coffin lowered into a grave. Most coffins are made of wood, though they can also be steel, fiberglass, or bamboo. A coffin is generally thought of as the same thing as a casket, although some people distinguish between a six-sided coffin and a four-sided casket. The earliest meaning of coffin, from the 14th century, was "box for valuables," from the Latin cophinus, "basket or hamper," and the Greek root kophinos, "a basket."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

coffin Coffin coffins

Glasgow Life, which manages Kelvingrove, said it had taken the decision to remove the painted coffin containing the remains of Nekht in the "absence of consent from the deceased individual or their ancestors".

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

A short distance from the nursery, workers in white protective suits loaded a child-sized coffin into the back of a pickup truck.

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026

In the 1970s, several theories were put forward questioning whether the remains in the coffin were actually those of Lady Shep-En-Hor.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

No one sleeps in a coffin and everyone seems to go out during the day for work or school.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

Estimo then renewed his request that the Targ brothers submit their DNA, so it could be compared with the samples taken from the body in the coffin.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Coffin was especially interested in alluding to the work of special effects master Ray Harryhausen, who created the creepy hovering aircraft in 1956’s “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

“People would tell me, ‘Kids are not going to understand,’” Coffin said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

Coffin, the co-creator and voice of the Minions, was born in France to Franco-Indonesian intellectuals who only turned on the TV for old movies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

French animator Pierre Coffin created the Minions and still voices them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

As they started marching back to the center of town, they passed the Coffin House at the head of Griffins Wharf.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes

Some of the "hanging coffins" can still be seen on nearby Sagada cliffs.

From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026

After the U.S. exhibitions, Florenz plans to send the traveling group of approximately 40 coffins to Red Clay Studio in Tamale, Ghana.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

Inside, I do a double-take: the men working inside are hammering together wooden coffins.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

The earliest burials were generally spaced apart from one another, and the bodies were placed inside coffins.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

Another structure was quickly assembled to store empty coffins and serve as a morgue.

From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy

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