subs. phr. (common).—A tombstone; also a memorial inscription. [From the opening words.]
1598. SHAKESPEARE, All’s Well that Ends Well, iii. 6. But that the merit of service is seldom attributed to the true and exact performer, I would have that drum or another, or HIC JACET—
1858–59. TENNYSON, Idylls of the King (‘Vivien’). Among the cold HIC JACETS of the dead.
