Veil
Veil (vāl) , noun
[Old English veile, Old French veile, French voile, Latin velum a sail, covering, curtain, veil, probably from vehere to bear, carry, and thus originally, that which bears the ship on. See Vehicle, and compare Reveal.]
1.
Something hung up, or spread out, to intercept the view, and hide an object; a cover; a curtain; esp., a screen, usually of gauze, crape, or similar diaphanous material, to hide or protect the face.
The veil of the temple was rent in twain.
She, as a veil down to the slender waist,
Her unadornéd golden tresses wore.
2.
A cover; a disguise; a mask; a pretense.
[I will] pluck the borrowed veil of modesty from the so seeming Mistress Page.
3.
(a) (Botany) The calyptra of mosses.
(b)
(Botany) A membrane connecting the margin of the pileus of a mushroom with the stalk; -- called also velum.
4.
(Ecclesiastical) A covering for a person or thing; as, a nun's veil; a paten veil; an altar veil.
5.
(Zoology) Same as Velum, 3.
Collocations (1)
To take the veil (Ecclesiastical) , to receive or be covered with, a veil, as a nun, in token of retirement from the world; to become a nun.
Veil , transitive verb
[Compare Old French veler, French voiler, Latin velarc. See Veil, n.]
1.
To throw a veil over; to cover with a veil.
Her face was veiled; yet to my fancied sight,
Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shined.
2.
Figuratively: To invest; to cover; to hide; to conceal.
To keep your great pretenses veiled.