Scrin

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for a small chest or case, often used to hold sacred relics or precious belongings
2. An old word for a box or receptacle, typically made to keep relics, papers or treasured objects safe
3. A dated name for a casket or coffer, traditionally used to store holy relics or valued possessions

Etymology: "Scrin" is a Middle English word, borrowed from Old French "escrin," meaning a box or chest, especially one for holding valuables, books, or relics. The French term traces back to Late Latin "scrinium," a case for storing papers or scrolls, which itself came from Latin "scribere," to write. So the word's earliest sense was a container for documents, not a religious object. Its specifically religious use came through medieval devotion. Reliquaries, the decorated boxes that held the bones, cloth, or other remains of saints, were often called "scrins" in English, and the word appears in this sense in the Middle Ages. Few such boxes survive, which is part of why the term now sounds archaic to most readers. The word has since largely dropped out of everyday English, surviving mainly in historical writing and discussions of medieval church treasure.

Synonyms: shrine, reliquary, chest