cover

/ˈkʌvə/KUH-vur

/ˈkʌvɚ/KUH-vur

Meaningto cover

Common meaning: to put over

cowith, together; thoroughlySkeat, Concise Etymological Dictionary (1911), p. 116 · scan
verto shut, to cover over, to hideSkeat, Concise Etymological Dictionary (1911), p. 116 · scan

‘with, together’ + ‘to shut, to cover over, to hide’ → cover

Journey through time

co — Latin com- “with, together; thoroughly” (path traced)
ver — Latin operīre “to shut, to cover over, to hide” (path traced)

Parts join in Latin as cooperire.

Aryan root · reconstructed√PAR‘produce, afford, prepare, share’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 198, p. 737 · scan
Latincom- + operire‘with, together; thoroughly + to shut, to cover over, to hide’source
Latincooperire‘te cover’source
Old Frenchcovrirsource
Middle Englishcouerensource
Englishcover‘to put over’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin cooperire, which Skeat (Concise Dictionary, 1911) analyses as com- ‘with, together; thoroughly’ + operire ‘to shut, to cover over, to hide’.

Roots

cooperire Latin “to cover”
operīre Latin “to shut, to cover over, to hide”

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