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 life of a nun in a religious order and the obligations entailed by it

5. to become a nun

6. Also called: velum. 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. Simone ( Annie ) (simɔn). born 1927, French stateswoman; president of the European Parliament (1979–82): a survivor of Nazi concentration camps

veil

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.

Other Word Forms

• veilless adjective
• veillike adjective
• veiler noun
• 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.

see draw a veil over.

Example Sentences

Clarence Dillon was portrayed in the press as a model investment banker, but his public image veiled a darker reality.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Draft beer, peanuts and big-screen sports... the scene is reminiscent of pubs worldwide, but in Saudi Arabia's capital, customers in white robes or black veils sip alcohol-free pints with no expectation of a hangover.

Read more on Barron's

Cassiopeia wriggled with excitement, for there was only one person this side of the veil who baked in this particular kind of way.

Read more on Literature

She was a tall, handsome woman no older than sixty, dressed in a black crepe gown with a crisp white collar and cuffs, and a veiled cap pinned on top of her head.

Read more on Literature

This thinly veiled attack on American supporters of Israel sparked widespread outrage, and Mr. Roberts’s subsequent apology for his poor choice of words did little to quell it.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• cloak 
• curtain 
• mask 
• shroud