lych-gate
See also: lychgate
English
Alternative forms
- lichgate
- lich-gate
- lychgate
- lyke-gate
Etymology
From lich (“corpse”) + gate.
Noun
lych-gate (plural lych-gates)
- A churchyard gateway with a roof, under which a corpse was laid during a funeral to await the arrival of the clergyman.
- 1851, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, The Moorland Cottage, HTML edition, Project Gutenburg, published 2004:
- If you take the turn to the left, after you pass the lyke-gate at Combehurst Church, …
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