▪ I. cerecloth, n.
(ˈsɪəklɒθ, -ɔː-)
Also 6–8 sear(e-, 7 cear(e-.
[App. originally cered cloth: see cered.]
Cloth smeared or impregnated with wax or some glutinous matter:
1. used for wrapping a dead body in; a waxed winding-sheet or a winding-sheet in general.
| [1475–1608 see cered.] 1553 Eden Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 27 Inuoluinge with cere clothe & pounderinge with spyces the body. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. vii. 51. 1678 Wycherley Pl.-Dealer ii. i, Thou Bag of Mummy, that wou'dst fall asunder, if 'twere not for thy Cere-cloaths. 1868 Stanley Westm. Abb. iii. 142 The wax of the king's cerecloth renewed. |
| fig. 1866 Motley Dutch Rep. Introd. xiv. 46 The monastic..spirit which now kept..all learning..wrapped in the ancient cerecloths. |
† 2. used as a plaster in surgery; a cerate.
| 1547 Boorde Brev. Health xlvii. 22 b, For aches and peyne in the armes use seare clothes. 1609 C. Butler Fem. Mon. x. (1623) Z iij, A Cere-cloth to refresh the wearied Sinewes and tired Muscles. 1625 Donne Serm. 663 A Sear-Cloth that Souples all bruises. 1667 Pepys Diary 14 July, I..did sprain my right foot..To bed, & there had a cerecloth laid to my foot. 1755 Smollett Quix. (1803) I. 121, I am at present more fit for a searcloth than such conversation. 1818 Art Preserv. Feet 148 Fix the cere-cloth close to the surrounding skin. |
3. for various other uses, esp. as a waterproof or protective material.
| 1540 Wyatt Let. Wks. (1816) 371 Out of his bosom he took a bag of a cerecloth with writings therein. 1658 Evelyn Fr. Gard. (1675) 106 Cerecloth to cover the clefts of your trees. 1764 Harmer Observ. v. v. 213 A thing like an horse litter..covered all over with sear-cloth. 1844 Pugin Gloss. Eccl. Ornament 53 Cerecloath, a waxed cloth fixed over a consecrated altar-stone to protect it from desecration. |
▪ II. † ˈcerecloth, v. Obs.
[f. prec. n.]
trans. a. To apply a ‘cerecloth’ or cerate to. b. To wrap in a cerecloth.
| 1620 Shelton Quix. ii. liii, I must seare-cloth myself: for I beleeve all my Ribs are bruised. 1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriot. ii. 31 The body of the Marquis of Dorset seemed sound and handsomely cereclothed. 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab. cxlviii, Some..sear-cloth Masts with strong Tarpawling coats. |