hearse
n. countablen. a vehicle used to carry a coffin to a burial or cremation. It is usually a black car with a special box on the back.
n. a vehicle used for transporting a coffin to a funeral service. Often associated with traditional mourning rituals and formal processions.
The hearse arrived at the church just before the service started.
The family followed the hearse to the cemetery in a quiet, solemn procession through the village.
While modern funerals often use standard vehicles, the traditional hearse remains a powerful symbol of the transition from life to death in many cultural traditions.
From Middle English herse, hers, herce, from Old French herce, from Medieval Latin hercia, from Latin herpicem, hirpex; ultimately from Oscan 𐌇𐌉𐌓𐌐𐌖𐌔 (hirpus, “wolf”), a reference to the teeth, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰers- (“stiff, rigid, bristled”). The Oscan term is related to Latin hīrsūtus (“bristly, shaggy”), whence English hirsute. Doublet of herse (“kind of gate”).