What does coffin mean?
A coffin is a long, sturdy box in which a dead body is placed for burial or cremation. It is among the most solemn words in everyday English, carrying heavy connotations of death, mourning, and finality, and it is treated with corresponding formality in speech and writing. In American English the softer term 'casket' is frequently preferred for the same object, and by tradition a coffin is hexagonal, tapering at the shoulders, while a casket is rectangular. The word also survives figuratively in the idiom 'a nail in the coffin', describing something that hastens the end of an enterprise, relationship, or institution — as when repeated losses prove the final nail in the coffin of a struggling business. Historically the term was far more ordinary: it entered English from Old French cofin, from Latin cophinus and ultimately Greek kophinos, all meaning a basket, so the original coffin held bread or fruit rather than the dead. That humble origin makes the word's modern gravity especially striking, and its shared ancestry with 'coffer' — a chest for treasures — offers a memorable reminder of how language drifts from the domestic to the funereal.
A long, box-like container in which a dead body is buried or cremated.
"Pallbearers carried the coffin slowly into the church."
Traditionally hexagonal in shape, tapering toward the head and feet; compare 'casket', the more common American term, typically rectangular.
Figuratively, something that brings about or signals inevitable failure, ruin, or death.
"The scandal proved to be another nail in the coffin of his political career."
Used almost exclusively within the idioms '(final/latest/nail in the) coffin'.
Regular plural; used both literally and in figurative expressions such as 'nails in the coffin'.
"The ancient tombs contained several stone coffins."
Before it meant a box for the dead, a 'coffin' was just a basket — the word traces back to the Greek kophinos, and its cousin 'coffer' still means a treasure chest today.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of coffin
The word 'coffin' came into Middle English from Old French 'cofin', meaning a small basket or box. This in turn derives from Latin 'cophinus', borrowed from the Greek 'kophinos', which denoted a wicker basket. The sense shifted over time from a general container for goods to a specifically funereal receptacle, a development well established by late medieval times. Its cognate 'coffer', meaning a chest or strongbox, descends from the same Latin root through Old French.
How coffin is actually used
In American usage, 'casket' is often preferred for burial containers, partly because 'coffin' can feel blunt or grim; traditionally a coffin is hexagonal while a casket is rectangular, though the terms overlap in practice. The figurative use appears almost exclusively in the phrase 'a nail in the coffin'.
Easily confused with coffin
A coffer is a chest or strongbox for storing valuables (or a sunken panel in a ceiling), whereas a coffin is a container for a dead body; both share the same ultimate root.