hearse
English
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hearse¹
- /hɜːs/ UK
- /hɝs/ US
Sounds like herse · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)s
Where it comes from
From Middle English herse, hers, herce, from Old French herce in the sense "triangular framework used to support candles". Ultimately the same word as Old French herce (“harrow”), from Latin *herpicem, accusative singular of *herpex, a variant form of hirpex (“harrow”). The agricultural device's name comes from Oscan hirpus (“wolf”), a reference to a harrow's many teeth. The term for wolf may ultimately be from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰers- (“stiff, rigid, bristled”). The Oscan term is related to Latin hīrsūtus (“bristly, shaggy”), whence English hirsute.
The TLFi considers the "framework to support candles" sense of the French word to be derived more specifically from Medieval Latin hercia; in any case, this is ultimately from the same source. (Du Cange sees in hercia a contraction of an extended form *herpicia. It may instead simply be a Latinization of Old French herce.) Doublet of herse (“kind of gate”).
noun hearses · herse
- A framework of wood or metal placed over the coffin or tomb of a deceased person, and covered with a pall; also, a temporary canopy bearing wax lights and set up in a church, under which the coffin was placed during the funeral ceremonies.
- A grave, coffin, tomb, or sepulchral monument. underneath this sable hearse
- A bier or handbarrow for conveying the dead to the grave. Set down, set down your honourable load, / If honour may be shrouded in a hearse.
- A carriage or vehicle specially adapted or used for transporting a dead person to the place of funeral or to the grave.
verb hearses · hearsing · hearsed · herse
- To enclose in a hearse; to entomb. I would my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear! would she were hearsed at my foot, and the ducats in her coffin!
hearse²
- /hɜːs/ UK
- /hɝs/ US
Sounds like herse · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)s
noun hearses
- Alternative form of hearst (“A hind (female deer) in the second or third year of her age”).
Translations
Every language
noun framework placed over coffin or tomb
| Français | baldaquin |
|---|---|
| Italiano | baldacchino, catafalco |
| Русский | балдахи́н baldaxín |
noun grave, coffin, tomb
| Français | tombe, cercueil |
|---|---|
| Русский | моги́ла mogíla, гроб grob, гробни́ца grobníca |
noun bier or handbarrow for carrying the dead
| Italiano | cataletto |
|---|---|
| Русский | катафа́лк katafálk, дро́ги drógi |
noun vehicle for transporting dead
| Español | coche fúnebre, carroza |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 영구차 yeonggucha |
| 日本語 | 霊柩車 reikyūsha, 柩車 kyūsha |
| 中文 | 柩車 /柩车 jiùchē, 殯車 /殡车 bìnchē, 靈車 /灵车 língchē, 靈柩車 /灵柩车 língjiù chē |
| Português | rabecão, carro fúnebre |
| Français | corbillard |
| Deutsch | Leichenwagen |
| Italiano | carro funebre |
| Ελληνικά | νεκροφόρα nekrofóra |
| Română | dric |
| Русский | катафа́лк katafálk, дро́ги drógi |
| Tiếng Việt | xe tang, xe hòm |
| العربية | سَيَّارة نَقْل مَوْتَى sayyāra naql mawtā, عَرَبة نَقْل مَوْتَى ʕaraba naql mawtā |
Talk about this word "hearse." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/hearse. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. hearse. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/hearse "hearse." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/hearse.Cite this
@misc{hearse_2026,
title = {hearse},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/hearse},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
