soulscot

noun

1. A funeral payment, formerly made at the grave, usually to the parish priest in whose church service for the departed had been said; a mortuary.

   countable, historical, uncountable

   O, by my soulscot, I do love to tell My stories with the haste I often count, At drowsy night, my Paternoster belt.

Where it comes from

From Middle English saulesoth, *soulescot, from sāwolsċeatt (“an ecclesiastical due, to be paid for every deceased person to the clergy of the church to which he belonged, in consideration of the services performed by them in his behalf”), equivalent to soul + scot.

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry soulscot (CC BY-SA 4.0).

← soughsourd →

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