English

hearsecloth

From hearse + cloth.

A compound of hearse + cloth

Old French herce

Middle English herse

Proto-Germanic *klaiþą ‘garment’

Proto-West Germanic *klaiþ

Old English clāþ ‘cloth, clothes, covering, sail’

Middle English cloth

English cloth

Today it means

noun A cloth for covering a coffin when on a bier; a pall.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / hearsecloth