coverlet

[kuhv-er-lit]

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noun

Also cov·er·lid

[kuhv-er-lid] /ˈkʌv ər lɪd/. a bed quilt that does not cover the pillow, used chiefly for warmth; bedspread.

Origin of coverlet

1250–1300; Middle English coverlite < Anglo-French cuver-lit bedspread, equivalent to cuver to cover + lit bed < Latin lectus; akin to lie², lay¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for coverlet

comforter, afghan, spread, throw, quilt

Examples from the Web for coverlet

Historical Examples of coverlet

The coverlet dropped from her breast; her hand was suspended with stiff fingers.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
Instead of reaching out for it, the sick man's hand lay on the coverlet.
Roden's Corner
Henry Seton Merriman
Trenchard climbed into bed, and settled himself under the coverlet.
Mistress Wilding
Rafael Sabatini
Give me a coverlet and I will sleep on the sofa here, and do you go to bed.
The Memoires of Casanova, Complete
Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
His arm, releasing my neck, fell stretched out on the coverlet.
Romance
Joseph Conrad and F.M. Hueffer

British Dictionary definitions for coverlet

coverlet

noun

another word for bedspread

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for coverlet

c.1300, perhaps a diminutive of cover (n.), but early form coverlite suggests an unrecorded Old French or folk-etymology *covre-lit, from covrir "to cover" + lit "bed" (see litter (n.)).