Dictionary

cerecloth en · NOUN

Etymology

From cere + cloth, from Latin cera (“wax, cere”).

Meanings

1. (countable, historical, uncountable) Cloth coated with wax so that it is waterproof, used for covering the dead.
   • ’Twere damnation To think so base a thought; it were too gross To rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave. 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]:

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