coffin

coffin (ˈkɒfɪn)

—n
1.	a box in which a corpse is buried or cremated
2.	the part of a horse's foot that contains the coffin bone

—vb
3.	(tr) to place in or as in a coffin
4.	engineering another name for flask

[C14: from Old French cofin, from Latin cophinus basket; see coffer]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

coffin

early 14c., from O.Fr. cofin "sarcophagus," earlier "basket, coffer," from L. cophinus "basket," from Gk. kophinos "a basket," of uncertain origin. Funeral sense in Eng. is 1520s; before that it was literal and had also a meaning of "pie crust." Coffin nail "cigarette" is slang from 1880.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Easton

Bible Dictionary

Coffin definition

used in Gen. 50:26 with reference to the burial of Joseph. Here, it means a mummy-chest. The same Hebrew word is rendered "chest" in 2 Kings 12:9, 10.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia

coffin

the receptacle in which a corpse is confined. The Greeks and Romans disposed of their dead both by burial and by cremation. Greek coffins were urn-shaped, hexagonal, or triangular, with the body arranged in a sitting posture. The material used was generally burnt clay and in some cases had obviously been molded around the body and baked. In the Christian era stone coffins came into use. Romans who were rich enough had their coffins made of a limestone brought from Assus, in Asia Minor, which was commonly believed to "eat" the body

Learn more about coffin with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences from the web

He talked about how the trip in the coffin was painful and odd.

He climbed in the coffin and in one moment, he lost all consciousness on the

return home.

The coffin was a solid bronze casket with gold plated rails and white

upholstery.

Space burial is the practice of firing the coffin into space.