hearse

hearse

English

a funeral carriage

Etymology

From Middle English herse, hers, herce, from Old French herce, from Medieval Latin hercia, from Latin herpicem, hirpex; ultimately from Oscan 𐌇𐌉𐌓𐌐𐌖𐌔 (hirpus, “wolf”), a reference to the teeth. The Oscan term is related to Latin hīrsūtus (“bristly, shaggy”). Doublet of hirsute.

Pronunciation

• enPR: hûrs
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /hɜːs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /hɝs/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Homophone: herse
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)s

Noun

hearse (plural hearses)

1. A hind (female deer) in the second year of her age.
2. 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.
3. A grave, coffin, tomb, or sepulchral monument.
   • 1621, Ben Jonson, Epitath to Mary Herbert:

     underneath this sable hearse

   • 1600, [Torquato Tasso], “The Third Booke of Godfrey of Bulloigne”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, OCLC 940138160:

     Beside the hearse a fruitful palm tree grows,

   • 1882, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, To the Avon:

     who lies beneath this sculptured hearse

4. A bier or handbarrow for conveying the dead to the grave.
   • c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene ii]:

     Set down, set down your honourable load, / If honour may be shrouded in a hearse.

5. A carriage or vehicle specially adapted or used for transporting a dead person to the place of funeral or to the grave.

Translations

hind on her second year

Dutch: tweejarige hinde f Finnish: vuonelo (fi) (reindeer) Italian: cerbiatta (it) f, cerva (it) f Serbo-Croatian: košuta dvogodišnjakinja f

framework placed over coffin or tomb

Czech: katafalk (cs) m inanim. Dutch: baldakijn (nl) m, overhuiving f Italian: baldacchino (it) m, catafalco (it) m

grave, coffin, tomb

Bulgarian: гроб (bg) m (grob) Dutch: graf (nl) n, lijkkist (nl) f, graftombe (nl) f Serbo-Croatian: grob (sh) m, grobnica (sh) f

bier or handbarrow for carrying the dead

Czech: máry (cs) f pl Dutch: katafalk (nl) m or f Finnish: ruumispaarit pl Irish: eileatram m Italian: cataletto m Norwegian: Bokmål: likvogn m or f Russian: катафа́лк (ru) m (katafálk) Serbo-Croatian: katafalk (sh) m

vehicle for transporting dead

Arabic: سَيَّارة نَقْل مَوْتَى‎ f (sayyāra(t) naql mawtā), عَرَبة نَقْل مَوْتَى‎ f (ʿaraba(t) naql mawtā) Armenian: դիակառք (hy) (diakaṙkʿ) Azerbaijani: mafə Bulgarian: катафалка f (katafalka) Chinese: Cantonese: 靈車 (ling4 ce1) Mandarin: 柩車／柩车 (zh) (jiùchē), 殯車／殡车 (zh) (bìnchē), 靈車／灵车 (zh) (língchē) Czech: pohřební vůz m Danish: ligvogn c, rustvogn (da) c Dutch: lijkwagen (nl) m, rouwkoets f Esperanto: ĉerkveturilo Faroese: líkbilur m Finnish: ruumisauto (fi), ruumisvaunut (fi) pl French: corbillard (fr) m German: Leichenwagen (de) m Greek: νεκροφόρα (el) f (nekrofóra) Hungarian: halottaskocsi (hu) Icelandic: líkbíll m Ido: sarkoveturo (io) Irish: eileatram m, marbhchóiste m, cóiste marbh m Italian: carro funebre m Japanese: 霊柩車 (reikyūsha) Korean: 영구차 (yeonggucha) Latvian: katafalks m Lithuanian: katafalkas m Maori: waka tūpāpaku Norman: hèrse f Norwegian: Bokmål: likbil (no) m, begravelsesbil m Nynorsk: likbil, gravferdsbil Persian: نعش‌کش‎ (na'š-keš) Polish: karawan (pl) m Portuguese: rabecão m, carro fúnebre m Romanian: dric (ro) n Russian: катафа́лк (ru) m (katafálk) Serbo-Croatian: mrtvačka kola n pl Spanish: coche fúnebre m, carroza (es) f Swedish: likbil (sv) c, bårbil c Turkish: cenaze arabası Ukrainian: катафа́лк m (katafálk) Vietnamese: xe tang (vi) Welsh: elorgerbyd m

References

• hearse in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• “hearse”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “hearse”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Verb

hearse (third-person singular simple present hearses, present participle hearsing, simple past and past participle hearsed)

1. (dated) To enclose in a hearse; to entomb.
   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene i]:

     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!

Anagrams

• harees, heares, sharee