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coverture

[kuhv-er-cher]
noun
  1. a cover or covering; shelter; concealment.
  2. Law. the status of a married woman considered as under the protection and authority of her husband.
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Origin of coverture

1175–1225; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French. See covert, -ure
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for coverture

Historical Examples of coverture

  • It was plain he was troubled; plain too he was only waiting for the coverture of the house to speak.

    Weighed and Wanting

    George MacDonald

  • Baron and feme we call husband and wife, and coverture we term marriage.

    The Book-Hunter

    John Hill Burton

  • Richard remained under this coverture while he was anointed.

    Richard II

    Jacob Abbott

  • A woman needed protection, or as the law of England has it, coverture.

    Judges and Ruth

    Robert A. Watson

  • Tennessee removed the disability of married women arising from coverture.

British Dictionary definitions for coverture

coverture

noun
  1. law the condition or status of a married woman considered as being under the protection and influence of her husband
  2. rare shelter, concealment, or disguise
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Word Origin for coverture

C13: from Old French, from covert covered; see covert
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 coverture

n.

early 13c., earliest reference is to bedcovers, from Old French coverture (12c.) "blanket; roof; concealment," from Latin *coopertura, from past participle stem of cooperire "to cover" (see cover (v.)). Most modern senses had evolved by mid-15c.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper