- coffin
- early 14c., from O.Fr. cofin "sarcophagus," earlier "basket, coffer," from L. cophinus "basket," from Gk. kophinos "a basket," of uncertain origin. Funeral sense in Eng. is 1520s; before that it was literal and had also a meaning of "pie crust." Coffin nail "cigarette" is slang from 1880.