casket

American  

[kas-kit, kah-skit] / ˈkæs kɪt, ˈkɑ skɪt /

noun

1. a coffin.

2. a small chest or box, as for jewels.

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verb (used with object)

1. to put or enclose in a casket.

casket British  

/ ˈkɑːskɪt /

noun

1. a small box or chest for valuables, esp jewels

2. another name for coffin

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Other Word Forms

• casketlike adjective
• uncasketed adjective

Etymology

Origin of casket

1425–75; late Middle English < ?

Explanation

A casket is a coffin, or a box in which the body of a dead person is buried. Some funeral traditions include a chance for mourners to see the deceased in the casket before burial. Most caskets are made of wood — some plain, and others more ornamental. Many caskets are buried in cemeteries, although others are cremated, or burned to ash, depending on religious and personal preferences. You can also use the word casket to mean "small box," particularly a box for jewelry or other precious items, and this is the word's earliest meaning, from the Old French cassette, a diminutive form of case.

Example Sentences

After nine days in the capital, they returned to Savannah on a large Airbus jet carrying Sam’s casket, accompanied by more than a dozen PSA pilots.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026

He was three years old when a photographer captured him saluting his father’s casket, and for many years, that was how most of America pictured him.

From Salon • Feb. 12, 2026

"Now finally Baba is home," his son, Raila Odinga junior, said beside his father's casket, draped in the Kenyan flag.

From BBC • Oct. 19, 2025

His remains are to stay in a cemetery outside Paris, but officers carried a symbolic casket draped in a French flag into the former church on the capital's left bank under a cascade of applause.

From Barron's • Oct. 9, 2025

Down the aisle, in front of the altar, is the casket, gleaming white.

From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon