Advertisement

Advertisement

cist

1

[ sist ]

noun

, Classical Antiquity.
  1. a box or chest, especially for sacred utensils.


cist

2

[ sist, kist ]

noun

  1. a prehistoric sepulchral tomb or casket.

cist

1

/ sɪst /

noun

  1. a wooden box for holding ritual objects used in ancient Rome and Greece
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

cist

2

/ sɪst /

noun

  1. archaeol a box-shaped burial chamber made from stone slabs or a hollowed tree trunk
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Discover More

Other Words From

  • cisted adjective
  • cistic adjective
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of cist1

1795–1805; < Latin cista < Greek kístē chest

Origin of cist2

1795–1805; < Welsh < Latin cista. See cist 1
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of cist1

C19: from Latin cista box, chest, basket, from Greek kistē

Origin of cist2

C19: from Welsh: chest, from Latin cista box; see cist 1
Discover More

Example Sentences

In September 2017, a farmer near Rock, Northumberland, preparing his field for drainage discovered a burial cist - or stone coffin - containing a skeleton and a jug.

From BBC

But they realized the pact had a warm­ing downside too, says David Fahey, a physi­cist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Earth System Research Lab­oratory in Boulder, Colorado.

“There’s so much variation in how they are positioned,” she said, “between whether they are cremated or buried; whether they are within a tomb, or a chamber, or a cist or a pit grave; whether they are placed face down or face up.”

The cist contained a finely-decorated beaker which had held food or drink for the deceased's journey into the afterlife.

From BBC

The skeleton of "Thankerton Man" was found in a stone cist - a type of burial chamber - at Boatbridge Quarry, Thankerton, South Lanarkshire, in 1970.

From BBC

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


Cissycistaceous