veil Hear it!

veil definition

veil (vāl)

noun

  1. a piece of light fabric, as of net or gauze, worn, esp. by women, over the face or head or draped from a hat to conceal, protect, or enhance the face
  2. any piece of cloth used as a concealing or separating screen or curtain
  3. anything like a veil in that it covers or conceals a veil of mist, a veil of silence
    1. a part of a nun's headdress, draped along the sides of the face and over the shoulders
    2. the state or life of a nun: chiefly in take the veil, to become a nun
  4. humeral veil
  5. Dialectal caul
  6. Biol. velum

Etymology: ME veile, veil, sail, curtain < NormFr < L vela, neut. pl., taken as fem., of velum, sail, cloth, curtain < IE base *weg-, to weave, attach, a textile > OIr figim, I weave, OE wecca, wick

transitive verb

  1. to cover with or as with a veil
  2. to conceal, hide, disguise, screen, obscure, etc.

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.