English
coverture
Coverture comes from Old French coverture ‘covering’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Italic *opweriō.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*opweriō1uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoperiō2‘cover’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcooperiō3as cooperīre‘to cover wholly or over, overwhelm, clothe’uncertain
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400covrir4‘to cover’uncertain
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400coverture4‘covering’
- Englishearliest quotation 1598–1599coverture4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin operio
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin cooperio
- 3 Wiktionary, Old French covrir
- 4 Wiktionary, English coverture
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1598–1599, Much Adoe about Nothing: “URSULA. The pleasant'st angling is to see the fish…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*opweriōWiktionary, Latin operiouncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoperiōWiktionary, Latin cooperio‘cover’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcooperiōWiktionary, Old French covriras cooperīre‘to cover wholly or over, overwhelm, clothe’uncertain
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400covrirWiktionary, English coverture‘to cover’uncertain
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400covertureWiktionary, English coverture‘covering’
- Englishearliest quotation 1598–1599covertureWiktionary, English coverture. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1598–1599, Much Adoe about Nothing: “URSULA. The pleasant'st angling is to see the fish…”
Linked words
through Latin operiō ‘cover’
Today it means
noun Concealing cover, disguise, veil; (also figurative).
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “coverture”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin operio, Latin cooperio, Old French covrir. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *opweriō / coverture