Etymology
1. c.1150, from O.Fr.
covrir, from L.L.
coperire, from L.
cooperire "to cover over," from
com- intens. prefix +
operire "to close, cover" (see weir). Military sense is from 1687; newspaper sense first recorded 1893; use in football dates from 1907. Betting sense is 1857. As a euphemism for "copulation of horses" it dates from 1535. Meaning "recording of a song already recorded by another" is 1966.
Cover-up is from 1927.
Cover girl is U.S. slang from 1915, shortening of
magazine-cover girl.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Indo-European *ḱe?
4. Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm
5. Proto-Italic *kom
6. Proto-Italic *kom-
7. Latin con-
8. Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der.
9. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder.
10. Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi
11. Proto-Indo-European *h₂wer-
12. Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
13. Latin operiō
14. Latin cooperiō
15. Old French covrirbor.
16. Middle English coveren
17. English cover
18. From Middle English coveren, borrowed from Old French covrir, cueuvrir (modern French couvrir), from Late Latin coperire, from Latin cooperiō (“to cover completely”), from co- (intensive prefix) + operiō (“to close, cover”). Displaced native Middle English thecchen and bethecchen (“to cover”) (from Old English þeccan, beþeccan (“to cover”)), Middle English helen, (over)helen, (for)helen (“to cover, conceal”) (from Old English helan (“to conceal, cover, hide”)), Middle English wrien, (be)wreon (“to cover”) (from Old English (be)wrēon (“to cover”)), Middle English hodren, hothren (“to cover up”) (from Low German hudren (“to cover up”)).
19. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the original sense of the verb and noun cover was “hide from view” as in its cognate covert. Except in the limited sense of “cover again”, the word recover is unrelated and is cognate with recuperate. Cognate with Spanish cubrir and Portuguese cobrir. See: Middle English '
coveren', Old French '
covrir', French '
couvrir', Latin '
cooperiō', Old English '
þeccan', Middle English '
helen', Old English '
helan', Old English '
wreon', Low Saxon 'hudren', Spanish '
cubrir', Portuguese '
cobrir'.
Verbs referencing "cover"
Galician
cubrir, Spanish
cubrir, German, old spelling
covern, Ido kovrar, Morisyen kouver, Dutch
coveren, Sranan
kibri.