coffin

coffin · noun, verb¹

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromκόφινος“a basket”
2. Latin · derived fromcophinus“basket”
3. Old Northern French · derived fromcofin“sarcophagus", earlier "basket, coffer”
4. Middle English · inherited fromcoffyn
5. English todaycoffin

From Middle English coffyn, from Old Northern French cofin (“sarcophagus", earlier "basket, coffer”), from Latin cophinus (“basket”), a loanword from Ancient Greek κόφινος (kóphinos, “a basket”). Doublet of coffer. Displaced native Old English þrūh.

coffin · noun²

1. Cornish · borrowed fromkoghyn“exploratory mining trench”
2. English todaycoffin

Borrowed from Cornish koghyn (“exploratory mining trench”), with spelling likely influenced by etymology 1.

Words from the same roots