lich

[ lich ]

nounBritish Obsolete.
  1. the body; the trunk.

  2. a dead body; corpse.

Origin of lich

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English liche “body (alive or dead),” Old English līc; cognate with Dutch lijk, German Leiche, Old Norse līk, Gothic leik. See like1
  • Also lych .

Words Nearby lich

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use lich in a sentence

  • At the entrance to the graveyard is the lich-gate and mortuary, where many wrecked seamen were taken for burial.

    The Cornwall Coast | Arthur L. Salmon
  • Nest lich nan ne gurde hire wi na cunne gurdles : bute urh schriftes leaue.

  • She referred to the thick, solid, stone wall enclosing the grounds, and the beautiful lich-gate that stood over the entrance.

    The House With Sixty Closets | Frank Samuel Child
  • By a little judicious elbowing, Dorothy managed to secure a place where she had a tolerable view of the path and the lich-gate.

    A Pair of Schoolgirls | Angela Brazil
  • Lych is the Saxon word for a dead body, from which lich-field, “the field of dead bodies,” is derived.

    English Villages | P. H. Ditchfield