lych
- noun
- /lɪtʃ/
- Archaic
:
cadáver
- In the quiet churchyard, a lych lay wrapped in a simple white cloth, ready for burial.
Examples
-
As the priest prayed over the lych, a sense of solemnity filled the air.
-
The villagers spoke softly about the lych that had been found in the old chapel.
-
The churchyard has a lych-gate with a stone where the coffin rested, between the house and the grave.
Fiction book (2002) -
Lych-gate: a covered gateway at a church entrance where people attending a funeral would wait for the minister before moving the coffin to the graveyard.
Blog text (30) -
"He swung the lych-gate experimentally, noting the cracked hinge and the latch fitting, dangling by one nail.
Fiction book (1992)
Synonyms
362
4.9
A dead body of a person
11
9.1
A dead body of a person
1
9.9
A dead person or animal
A dead body often mentioned in old stories or books
A dead body mentioned in old stories or poems
An old word for a dead person
Surface Forms
Etymology
Lych comes from an old English root lich meaning 'body', and it is like the German word 'Leiche' or the Dutch 'lijk', which also mean 'corpse'. So, a lych is an old word for a dead body, often used in church or historical stories.