Advertisement

View synonyms for veil

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

/ vaɪl /

noun

  1. VeilSimone (Annie)1927FFrenchPOLITICS: stateswoman Simone ( Annie ) (simɔn). born 1927, French stateswoman; president of the European Parliament (1979–82): a survivor of Nazi concentration camps


veil

2

/ 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 veil
    the veil the life of a nun in a religious order and the obligations entailed by it
  5. take the veil
    take the veil to become a nun
  6. Also calledvelum botany a membranous structure, esp the thin layer of cells connecting the edge of a young mushroom cap with the stipe
  7. See caul
    anatomy another word for caul

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

/ vāl /

  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.


Discover More

Derived Forms

  • ˈveiler, noun
  • ˈveil-ˌlike, adjective
  • ˈveilless, adjective

Discover More

Other Words From

  • veilless adjective
  • veillike adjective

Discover More

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

Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of veil1

C13: from Norman French veile, from Latin vēla sails, pl of vēlum a covering

Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. take the veil, to become a nun.

More idioms and phrases containing veil

see draw a veil over .

Discover More

Example Sentences

I’ve asked for records and gotten stonewalled behind the veil of public safety.

The boy, whose face is covered by a semi-transparent veil, carries a lamb.

There is a veil of shame and myth regarding the use of cannabis.

In her book, Western Representations of the Muslim Woman, Moja Kahf traces one of the first discussions of the veil in western fiction to the novel Don Quixote.

Because one feature of contempt, it strikes me, is that there’s a little bit of a veil of secrecy over it.

Mrs. Kouachi works at a nursery and has worn the veil since she made the pilgrimage to Mecca in 2008.

No piece of cloth throughout history has sparked more controversy as the veil.

The Arab women wore their colored hejabs, and the non-Muslim women dressed modestly and without a veil.

If users want to send naughty photos with a veil of privacy, opt for the pixilated shower door filter.

Watching a woman in a white dress and veil realize she just married the wrong person should be reality TV gold.

Madame Ratignolle, more careful of her complexion, had twined a gauze veil about her head.

Lady Maude sat alone in her room; the white robes upon her, the orthodox veil, meant to shade her fair face thrown back from it.

As you neared it, however, the watery veil seemed flung over them, like the foamy tulle over a bride.

As I receded, the watery veil would disappear, and as I approached it would again take form.

No Jewish historian nor scientist mentioned the rending of the veil of the temple, nor the rising of the saints from the dead.

Advertisement

Related Words

Word of the Day

petrichor

[pet-ri-kawr]

Meaning and examples

Start each day with the Word of the Day in your inbox!

By clicking "Sign Up", you are accepting Dictionary.com Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policies.

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.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


Veiiveiled