A decorated box or chest, especially one used for holding a dead body for burial or viewing.
From Middle French 'casquet', a diminutive of 'casque', meaning 'helmet' or 'case', from Spanish 'casco', 'shell' or 'skull'. It originally meant a small box for jewelry or valuables.
The word 'casket' started as a fancy little box for precious objects; only later did it become the box for our most precious 'possession'—the body. Even the softer word 'casket' was partly chosen to sound gentler than 'coffin'.
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