veil

Noun · Verb
US[veyl]/veɪl/1 syllable
Synonyms: head coveringvelumcaulembryonic membranehumeral veilobscureblot outobliteratehide

Open English WordNet

Verb (2)veils, veiled, veiling

  1. to obscure, or conceal with or as if with a veil“women in Afghanistan veil their faces”Opposite unveilMore general hide, concealInvolves cover
  2. make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing“a hidden message”“a veiled threat”Synonyms: obscureblot outobliteratehideMore general change, alterMore specific mystifySimilar obliterate, efface

Noun (4)veils

  1. a garment that covers the head and faceSynonyms: head coveringType of garmentKinds chador, face veil, yashmak
  2. a membranous covering attached to the immature fruiting body of certain mushroomsSynonyms: velumType of plant part, plant structureKinds universal veil, partial veil
  3. the inner membrane of embryos in higher vertebrates (especially when covering the head at birth)Synonyms: caulembryonic membraneType of fetal membranePart of placenta
  4. a vestment worn by a priest at High Mass in the Roman Catholic Church; a silk shawlSynonyms: humeral veilType of vestment
Word of the day · Nov 12About this word
diligentadjective

What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz

Advertisement

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Veil (vāl), noun [Written also vail.]

Origin: OE. veile, OF. veile, F. voile, L. velum a sail, covering, curtain, veil, probably fr. vehere to bear, carry, and thus originally, that which bears the ship on. See Vehicle, and cf. Reveal.

1. Something hung up, or spread out, to intercept the view, and hide an object; a cover; a curtain; esp., a screen, usually of gauze, crape, or similar diaphanous material, to hide or protect the face.

The veil of the temple was rent in twain.— Matt. xxvii. 51.
She, as a veil down to the slender waist, Her unadornéd golden tresses wore.— John Milton

2. A cover; a disguise; a mask; a pretense.

[I will] pluck the borrowed veil of modesty from the so seeming Mistress Page.— William Shakespeare

3. Botany (a) The calyptra of mosses. (b) A membrane connecting the margin of the pileus of a mushroom with the stalk; — called also velum.

4. Church A covering for a person or thing; as, a nun's veil; a paten veil; an altar veil.

5. Zoology Same as Velum, 3.

To take the veil Church, to receive or be covered with, a veil, as a nun, in token of retirement from the world; to become a nun.

Veil transitive verb [past tense & past participle Veiled; present participle & verbal noun Veiling.] [Written also vail.]

Origin: Cf. OF. veler, F. voiler, L. velarc. See Veil, noun

1. To throw a veil over; to cover with a veil.

Her face was veiled; yet to my fancied sight, Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shined.— John Milton

2. Fig.: To invest; to cover; to hide; to conceal.

To keep your great pretenses veiled.— William Shakespeare

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54

Advertisement