coverture
Americannoun
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a cover or covering; shelter; concealment.
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Law. the status of a married woman considered as under the protection and authority of her husband.
noun
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law the condition or status of a married woman considered as being under the protection and influence of her husband
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rare shelter, concealment, or disguise
Etymology
Origin of coverture
1175–1225; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French. See covert, -ure
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The state cited congressional debates over the 14th Amendment’s impact on coverture laws that denied women equal citizenship.
From Slate • May 8, 2024
For instance, textiles subverted coverture, the doctrine under which married women had no independent legal standing and anything they possessed belonged to their husbands.
From Washington Post • Feb. 25, 2022
The common law doctrine of coverture merged a wife’s legal identity with her husband’s.
From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018
But a dark shadow hovers over this ideal that harkens back to colonial times: coverture laws.
From Time • Aug. 8, 2016
We do not suppose that many Germans of that day loved books for their delicate appearance, or the damask and satin of their 'pleasant coverture.'
From The Great Book-Collectors by Elton, Charles Isaac
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
