Lich
/lɪtʃ/noun
A corpse, especially a corpse or skeleton imagined as reanimated by supernatural power.
Did you know?A lich-gate was a roofed churchyard entrance where a corpse could rest while waiting for burial or the funeral service.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*leikw-
“To leave or remain behind; a proposed ancient root connected with the idea of what is left.”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*laiką
“A body or corpse; the ancestral form reconstructed for Germanic body-words.”
Old English
Old English
līċ
“Body or corpse.”
Middle English
Middle English
lich / liche
“A dead body or corpse; the form also appeared in compounds associated with funerals.”
14th–16th Century
English
lich-gate
“A covered gate at a churchyard, where a coffin or corpse could wait before burial.”
Modern English
English
lich
“A corpse or, especially in fantasy, an undead being that retains magical agency after death.”
Explore more surprising origins