coffin-like

The compound adjective 'coffin-like' is a transparent modern English formation. Its first element, 'coffin', traces a journey from the Greek 'kophinos', a general term for a woven basket, through Latin and Old French, where its meaning specialized to denote a box for the dead. The second element, '-like', originates from the Old English noun 'līc' (body, form), which evolved into a prolific suffix denoting resemblance. The literal logic of the word is straightforward: "having the form or characteristics of a coffin." This meaning is almost entirely compositional, drawing directly from the modern senses of its components to evoke imagery of a box-shaped object associated with burial, often implying a grim, boxy, or funereal quality.

Structure: coffin + like coffin: From Old French 'cofin' (basket, coffer), from Latin 'cophinus' (basket), from Greek 'kophinos' (basket). The core sense is a container. like: From Old English 'līc' (body, form) via the suffix '-līc' (having the form of). In modern English, it functions as a suffix meaning "similar to" or "characteristic of".