coffin
[ kaw-fin, kof-in ]
/ ˈkɔ fɪn, ˈkɒf ɪn /
noun
the box or case in which the body of a dead person is placed for burial; casket.
the part of a horse's foot containing the coffin bone.
Printing.
- the bed of a platen press.
- the wooden frame around the bed of an early wooden press.
verb (used with object)
to put or enclose in or as in a coffin.
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Origin of coffin
1300–50; Middle English cofin < Old North French < Latin cophinus < Greek kóphinos a kind of basket
Related formscof·fin·less, adjectiveun·cof·fin, verb (used with object)
Definition for coffin (2 of 2)
Coffin
[ kaw-fin, kof-in ]
/ ˈkɔ fɪn, ˈkɒf ɪn /
noun
Levi,1798–1877, U.S. abolitionist leader.
Robert P(eter) Tristram,1892–1955, U.S. poet, essayist, and biographer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for coffin
British Dictionary definitions for coffin
coffin
/ (ˈkɒfɪn) /
noun
a box in which a corpse is buried or cremated
the part of a horse's foot that contains the coffin bone
verb
(tr) to place in or as in a coffin
engineering another name for flask (def. 6)
Word Origin for coffin
C14: from Old French cofin, from Latin cophinus basket; see coffer
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for coffin
coffin
early 14c., "chest or box for valuables," from Old French cofin "sarcophagus," earlier "basket, coffer" (12c., Modern French coffin), from Latin cophinus "basket, hamper" (source of Italian cafano, Spanish cuebano "basket"), from Greek kophinos "a basket," of uncertain origin.
Funeral sense in English is 1520s; before that it was the literal Latin one and had also a meaning of "pie crust" (late 14c.). Meaning "vehicle regarded as unsafe" is from 1830s. Coffin nail "cigarette" is slang from 1880; nail in (one's) coffin "thing that contributes to one's death" is from 1792.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper