lych-gate
nounEtymology From lich (“corpse”) + gate.
1
A churchyard gateway with a roof, under which a corpse was laid during a funeral to await the arrival of the clergyman.
- If you take the turn to the left, after you pass the lyke-gate at Combehurst Church, …1851, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, The Moorland Cottage, HTML edition, Project Gutenburg, published 2004:
- Church Hill climbs steeply to All Saints, with its lych-gate at the entrance to the churchyard.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 68: