cerecloth
English
Etymology
From cere + cloth, from Latin cera (“wax, cere”).
Noun
cerecloth (countable and uncountable, plural cerecloths)
- (historical) Cloth coated with wax so that it is waterproof, used for covering the dead.
- 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, [Act II, scene vii]:
- ’Twere damnation
To think so base a thought; it were too gross
To rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave.