cover

From Middle English coveren, borrowed from Old French covrir, cueuvrir (modern French couvrir), from Late Latin coperire, from Latin cooperiō (“I cover completely”), from co- (intensive prefix) + operiō (“I 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”)).

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 (“to cover”).

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkʌvɚ/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Received Pronunciation, Southern England) IPA^(key): /ˈkʌvə/
• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /ˈkʊvə/
• (Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈkʌvəɹ/
• (Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈkʊvəɹ/
• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈkɐvə/

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌvə(ɹ)

cover (countable and uncountable, plural covers)

1. A lid.
2. (uncountable) Area or situation which screens a person or thing from view.

   The soldiers took cover behind a ruined building.

3. The front and back of a book, magazine, CD package, etc.
4. The top sheet of a bed.
5. A cloth or similar material, often fitted, placed over an item such as a car or sofa or food to protect it from dust, rain, insects, etc. when not being used.
6. A cover charge.

   There's a $15 cover tonight.

7. A setting at a restaurant table or formal dinner.

   We need to set another cover for the Smith party.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me.

8. (music) A new performance or rerecording of a previously recorded song; a cover version; a cover song.
9. (cricket) A fielding position on the off side, between point and mid off, about 30° forward of square; a fielder in this position.
10. (cricket) A tarpaulin or other device used to cover the wicket during rain, to prevent it getting wet.
11. (combinatorics, topology) A collection (or family) of subsets of a given set, whose union contains every element of said original set.

    Hyponyms: exact cover, partition

    The open intervals are a cover for the real numbers.

12. (philately) An envelope complete with stamps and postmarks etc.
13. (military) A solid object, including terrain, that provides protection from enemy fire.
14. (law) In commercial law, a buyer’s purchase on the open market of goods similar or identical to the goods contracted for after a seller has breached a contract of sale by failure to deliver the goods contracted for.
15. (insurance) An insurance contract; coverage by an insurance contract.
16. (espionage) A persona maintained by a spy or undercover operative; cover story.
17. (dated) A swindler's confederate.
18. The portion of a slate, tile, or shingle that is hidden by the overlap of the course above.^[1]
19. In a steam engine, the lap of a slide valve.
20. (construction) The distance between reinforcing steel and the exterior of concrete.

• → Hijazi Arabic: كَڤَر (kavar)
• → Portuguese: cover

cover (not comparable)

1. Of or pertaining to the front cover of a book or magazine.
2. (music) Of, pertaining to, or consisting of cover versions.

cover (third-person singular simple present covers, present participle covering, simple past and past participle covered)

1. (transitive) To place something over or upon, as to conceal or protect.

   He covered the baby with a blanket.

   When the pot comes to a boil, cover it and reduce the heat to medium.

2. (transitive) To be over or upon, as to conceal or protect.

   The blanket covered the baby.

   • 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter I, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0016:

     A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; as, again, the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire.

   • 2013 May-June, Charles T. Ambrose, “Alzheimer’s Disease”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 200:

     Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems— […]. Such a slow-release device containing angiogenic factors could be placed on the pia mater covering the cerebral cortex and tested in persons with senile dementia in long term studies.

3. (transitive) To be upon all of, so as to completely conceal.

   Regular hexagons can cover the plane.

4. (transitive) To set upon all of, so as to completely conceal.

   You can cover the plane with regular hexagons.

5. (intransitive, dated) To put on one's hat.
   • 1904, Rawdon Lubbock Brown, Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts:

     All the while he held his hat in his hand; and even until he had given his answer, when he covered and bade us be.

6. (transitive) To invest (oneself with something); to bring upon (oneself).

   The heroic soldier covered himself with glory.

   • 1842, Henry Brougham, Political Philosophy:

     the powers that covered themselves with everlasting infamy by the partition of Poland

7. To have under one’s scope or purview.
   1. (transitive, of a publication) To discuss thoroughly; to provide coverage of.

      The magazine covers such diverse topics as politics, news from the world of science, and the economy.

   2. (transitive) To deal with or include someone or something.
      • 2010 (publication date), "Contributors", Discover, ISSN 0274-7529, volume 32, number 1, January–February 2011, page 7:

        Richard Morgan covers science for The Economist, The New York Times, Scientific American, and Wired.

   3. (transitive) To have as an assignment or responsibility.

      Can you cover the morning shift tomorrow? I'll give you off next Monday instead.

      He is our salesman covering companies with headquarters in the northern provinces.

   4. (transitive) To provide insurance coverage for.

      Does my policy cover accidental loss?

8. (transitive) To be enough money for.

   We've earned enough to cover most of our costs.

   Ten dollars should cover lunch.

9. (transitive) To supply with funds; to settle or pay the costs for; to foot the bill for.

   Dad, when I get to University, will I be covered?

10. (intransitive) To act as a replacement.

    I need to take off Tuesday. Can you cover for me?

11. (transitive, broadcasting) To air or run locally originated material in place of network material during an internal spot break in a syndicated program.

    I wish that popular afternoon show would let us cover some of their commercials – their national stuff can be so annoying.

12. (music, transitive) To make a cover version of (a song that was originally recorded by another artist).

    I'm surprised that the band covered this Beatles song so well.

13. To protect, to guard.
    1. (transitive) To protect from attack in general, to guard.
       • 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 2:

         Pent up in Utica he vainly forms
         A poor Epitome of Roman Greatneſs,
         And, cover’d with Numidian Guards, directs
         A feeble Army, and an empty Senate,
         Remnants of mighty Battels fought in vain.

    2. (military, law enforcement, transitive) To protect using an aimed firearm and the threat of firing; or to protect using continuous, heaving fire at or in the direction of the enemy so as to force the enemy to remain in cover; or to threaten using an aimed firearm.
    3. (chess, transitive) To protect or control (a piece or square).

       In order to checkmate a king on the side of the board, the five squares adjacent to the king must all be covered.

    4. (sports, transitive) To defend (mark) a particular player or area.
    5. (transitive) To provide an alibi for (someone); to provide excuses or apologia for (someone); to carry water for someone.
14. (transitive) To copulate with (said of certain male animals such as dogs and horses).
    • 1927, Havelock Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 (of 6)‎^[1]:

      Among animals in a domesticated or confined state it is easy to find evidence of homosexual attraction, due merely to the absence of the other sex. This was known to the ancients; the Egyptians regarded two male partridges as the symbol of homosexuality, and Aristotle noted that two female pigeons would cover each other if no male was at hand.

    I would like to have my bitch covered next spring.

    The stallion has not covered the mare yet.

    Synonym: impregnate

15. (transitive) To extend over a given period of time or range, to occupy, to stretch over a given area.
16. (transitive) To traverse or put behind a certain distance.
    • 1915, Aerial Age:

      November 22 — Owing to bad weather all machines flew at a height of 5,000 feet and covered the 90 miles in just 90 minutes . November 23 — During fourth lap ...

    • 1989, Robert K. Krick, Parker's Virginia Battery, C.S.A.:

      It had covered better than 840 miles in just a few hours more than seven days.32 The apparently clumsily managed shuffle through the various railroad nets ...

17. (transitive, dated) To arrange plates, etc. on (a table) in preparation for a meal.

    Synonyms: lay the table, set the table

    • 1892, George Chase, Leading Cases Upon the Law of Torts, page 46:

      […] he told plaintiff he would cover the table, and furnish it the same as the one he was sitting at, and that he should be waited upon and served the same as those on the other side of the room.

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:cover.

• → German: covern
• → Danish: lave en cover

• Vorce, corve

Borrowed from English cover.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɑ.vər/, /ˈkɔ.vər/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: co‧ver

cover m (plural covers, diminutive covertje n)

1. a cover, cover song, cover version (rerecording of a previously recorded song, typically by a different artist)
2. a cover, the front of a magazine or of the package of a storage medium

• coveren
• coverversie

Unadapted borrowing from English cover.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkoʋer/, [ˈko̞ʋe̞r]
• IPA^(key): /ˈkoʋeri/, [ˈko̞ʋe̞ri]

cover

1. cover, cover version, cover song (rerecording of a previously recorded song)

   Synonyms: coverversio, koveri, lainakappale

• “cover”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

Borrowed from English cover.

• IPA^(key): /kɔ.vœʁ/

cover m (plural covers)

1. (colloquial) cover (rerecording)

• Audio:

  (file)

cover

1. inflection of covern:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. singular imperative

• covere, kever

Borrowed from Old French covert, and was influenced by coveren.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkuvər/

cover (plural covers)

1. Something that covers.

• coveren

• English: cover
• Yola: neckarès (plural)

• “cǒver, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Unadapted borrowing from English cover.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.vɛr/, /ˈka.vɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔvɛr, -avɛr
• Syllabification: co‧ver

cover m inan

1. (music) cover version (rerecording of a song)

• cover in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• cover in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Unadapted borrowing from English cover.

• Hyphenation: co‧ver

cover m or (rare) f (plural coveres)

1. (music) cover version (rerecording of a song by another musician or group)

   Synonym: versão cover

cover m or f by sense (plural coveres)

1. impersonator (an entertainer whose act is based upon performing impressions of others)

   Ele é cover do Elvis Presley. ― He is an Elvis Presley impersonator.

• “cover”, in Dicio – Dicionário Online de Português (in Portuguese), Porto: 7Graus, 2009–2024
• “cover”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2024

Unadapted borrowing from English cover.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkobeɾ/ [ˈko.β̞eɾ]
• Rhymes: -obeɾ
• Syllabification: co‧ver

cover m (plural covers)

1. (music) cover, cover version

   Synonym: versión

• According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Borrowed from English cover.

cover c

1. (music) cover, cover song

The plural of this word could also be covers.

• coverband

• cover in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)