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Webster 1913 Edition


Lich

Lich

(lĭk)
,
Adj.
Like.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
Spenser.

Lich

(lĭch)
,
Noun.
[AS.
līc
body. See
Like
,
Adj.
]
A dead body; a corpse.
[Obs.]
Lich fowl
(Zool.)
,
the European goatsucker; – called also
lich owl
.
Lich gate
,
a covered gate through which the corpse was carried to the church or burial place, and where the bier was placed to await the clergyman; a corpse gate.
[Prov. Eng.]
Halliwell.
Lich wake
,
the wake, or watching, held over a corpse before burial.
[Prov Eng.]
Chaucer.
Lich wall
,
the wall of a churchyard or burying ground.
Lich way
,
the path by which the dead are carried to the grave.
[Prov. Eng.]

Webster 1828 Edition


Lich

LICH

,
Adj.
[See Like.] Like; even; equal. Obs.

LICH

,
Noun.
[Heb. chalak, smooth. We have here an instance of the radical sense of man and body, almost exactly analogous to that of Adam, to make equal, to be like.]

Definition 2024


Lich

Lich

See also: lich, lịch, and -lich

Central Franconian

Alternative forms

  • Liech (some dialects of Ripuarian)
  • Leich (Moselle Franconian)

Noun

Lich f (plural Liche)

  1. (most dialects of Ripuarian) corpse (dead human body)
  2. (the same dialects, dated) funeral

Synonyms

  • (corpse): Dude
  • (funeral): Bejrävnis

lich

lich

See also: -lich and lịch

English

Noun

lich (plural liches)

  1. (archaic) A corpse or dead body. [from 9th c.]
    • 1983, Poul Anderson, Time Patrolman (Sci-Fi), ISBN 9780812530766:
      She saw him again that eventide, but then he was a reddened lich.
  2. (fantasy, roleplay) A reanimated corpse or undead being, particularly a still-intelligent undead spellcaster.
    • 1974, Karl Edward Wagner, ‘Sticks’:
      It was a lich’s face – desiccated flesh tight over its skull.
Translations

Derived terms


Middle English

Etymology

From Old English līċ, from Proto-Germanic *līką, from Proto-Indo-European *līg-.

Noun

lich (plural lichs)

  1. A body.
    • 1362, William Langland, Piers Plowman, XI.2:
      A wyf […] Þat lene was of lich and of louh chere.