deathbed

noun

Etymology: From Middle English dethbed, from Old English dēaþbedd (“deathbed; grave”), equivalent to death + bed. Cognate with Swedish dödsbädd (“deathbed”). Compare also Dutch sterfbed (“deathbed”), German Sterbebett and Totenbett (both “deathbed”), Danish dødsleje (“deathbed”).

1. The bed on which someone dies.

   “He was once on his way to an old woman, who was on her death-bed and who had led a wicked life.”

2. The last hours before death.
3. A grave; the site of a burial or entombment.

   ““Will you ask our oldest warriors to build me a barrow? Ask them to climb this headland and build me a death pile high on its top. Let my deathbed rise high above Hronesnesse.””