lich-gate, lych-gate arch.
(ˈlɪtʃgeɪt)
[f. lich corpse + gate.]
The roofed gateway to a churchyard under which the corpse is set down, to await the clergyman's arrival.
| 1482–3 in Swayne Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896) 30 Et sol'. Will'o Sariant Carpent' pro emend' le lycheyate, iiijd. 1681 Ashmole in Lilly's Life (1774) 162 His coarse was..received by the minister (in his surplice) at the Litch-Gates. 1846 Guide Archit. Antiq. Oxford 375 A handsome lich⁓gate of carved oak has been erected at the entrance of the Church-yard. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 824 Yet to the lychgate, where his chariot stood, [He] Strode from the porch. 1875 J. Grant One of the ‘600’ xviii. 138 The ivy-clad lyke-gate of the village church. |