Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One of the persons carrying or attending a coffin at a funeral.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who with others attends the coffin at a funeral: so called from the old custom of holding the corners and edges of the pall as the coffin was carried, whether on a vehicle or by men.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One of those who attend the coffin at a funeral; -- so called from the pall being formerly carried by them.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun archaic One who carries a corner of the pall over a coffin or casket.
  • noun One called upon to carry or bear the casket at a funeral.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun one of the mourners carrying the coffin at a funeral

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From pall + bearer

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