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A tear-bottle; a narrow-necked vessel found in sepulchers of the ancient Romans; - so called from a former notion that the tears of the deceased person's friends were collected in it. Called also lachrymal or lacrymal.

A tear-bottle; a narrow-necked vessel found in sepulchers of the ancient Romans; - so called from a former notion that the tears of the deceased person's friends were collected in it. Called also lachrymal or lacrymal.

A vessel anciently buried with the dead, and supposed to contain the tears shed for their loss, but whose real use was to hold perfumes or ointments.

n. [Latin] A vessel found in sepulchers of the ancients, in which it has been supposed the tears of a deceased person's friends were collected and preserved.