veil

[ veyl ]

noun

1. a piece of opaque or transparent material worn over the face for concealment, for protection from the elements, or to enhance the appearance.
2. a piece of material worn so as to fall over the head and shoulders on each side of the face, forming a part of the headdress of a nun.
3. the life of a nun, especially a cloistered life.
4. something that covers, separates, screens, or conceals:

   a veil of smoke; the veil of death.

5. a mask, disguise, or pretense:

   to find fault under a veil of humor.

6. Botany, Anatomy, Zoology. a velum.
7. Mycology. a membrane that covers the immature mushroom of many fungi and breaks apart as the mushroom expands, leaving distinctive remnants on the cap, stalk, or stalk base.
8. Scot. and North England. a caul.

verb (used with object)

1. to cover or conceal with or as with a veil:

   She veiled her face in black. A heavy fog veiled the shoreline.

2. to hide the real nature of; mask; disguise:

   to veil one's intentions.

verb (used without object)

1. to don or wear a veil:

   In certain Islamic countries women must veil.

veil

¹

/ veɪl /

noun

1. a piece of more or less transparent material, usually attached to a hat or headdress, used to conceal or protect a woman's face and head
2. part of a nun's headdress falling round the face onto the shoulders
3. something that covers, conceals, or separates; mask

   a veil of reticence

4. the veil
   the life of a nun in a religious order and the obligations entailed by it
5. take the veil
   to become a nun
6. Also calledvelum botany a membranous structure, esp the thin layer of cells connecting the edge of a young mushroom cap with the stipe
7. anatomy another word for caul
8. See humeral veil

verb

1. tr to cover, conceal, or separate with or as if with a veil
2. intr to wear or put on a veil

Veil

²

/ vaɪl /

noun

1. VeilSimone (Annie)1927FFrenchPOLITICS: stateswoman Simone ( Annie ) (simɔn). born 1927, French stateswoman; president of the European Parliament (1979–82): a survivor of Nazi concentration camps

veil

/ vāl /

1. A membranous covering or part, especially a membrane surrounding the young mushrooms of certain basidiomycete fungi. In some species the membrane (called a partial veil ) extends only from the stalk to the cap. As the cap expands, the veil breaks, leaving a ring called an annulus on the stalk and often scalelike pieces on the cap. These veil remnants are important for identifying species of mushrooms.

Derived Forms

• ˈveiler, noun
• ˈveil-ˌlike, adjective
• ˈveilless, adjective

Other Words From

• veilless adjective
• veillike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of veil¹

1175–1225; (noun) Middle English veile < Anglo-French < Latin vēla, neuter plural (taken in VL as feminine singular) of vēlum covering; (v.) Middle English veilen < Anglo-French veiler, derivative of veile

Word History and Origins

Origin of veil¹

C13: from Norman French veile, from Latin vēla sails, pl of vēlum a covering

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. take the veil, to become a nun.

More idioms and phrases containing veil

see draw a veil over .

Example Sentences

Among their offerings included “Woman of the Century,” a gin-based drink inspired by Simone Veil, a lawyer, politician and Holocaust survivor who spear-headed the law that decriminalized abortion in France; “Amazona,” a tequila, yucca, honey soda, cinnamon and pepper drink based on Sonia Guajajara, activist and the first Minister of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil; and the “Vesper Dolores,” honoring Dolores Jiménez y Muro, a teacher, journalist and poet from the Mexican Revolutionary War.

From Salon

And the power of sisterhood hangs like a veil over histories of resistance and change.

From Los Angeles Times

"I’m not saying that France isn’t for me. I’m just saying that what I want is to be able to thrive in an environment that respects my faith and my values. I want to go to work without having to remove my veil," the 35-year-old says.

From BBC

On Sunday, the pop star took to Instagram to post a video in which she's seen in a white ankle-length silk dress and a lacy veil, as though dressed for a wedding — which, in a sense, she was.

From Salon

That’s what makes McBride singularly compelling in playing her – she’s constantly holding Carol’s danger and determination under a gossamer veil of meekness.

From Salon

Related Words

• cloak
• enclose
• enfold
• shroud