Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French herce 'harrow, frame', from Latin hirpex 'a kind of large rake', from Oscan hirpus 'wolf' (with reference to the teeth). The earliest recorded sense in English is 'latticework canopy placed over the coffin (whilst in church) of a distinguished person', but this probably arose from the late Middle English sense 'triangular frame (shaped like the ancient harrow) for carrying candles at certain services'. The current sense dates from the mid 17th cent.