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Webster 1913 Edition

Veil

Veil

(vāl)
,
Noun.
[OE.
veile
, OF.
veile
, F.
voile
, L.
velum
a sail, covering, curtain, veil, probably fr.
vehere
to bear, carry, and thus originally, that which bears the ship on. See
Vehicle
, and cf.
Reveal
.]
[Written also
vail
.]
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 diaphnous material, to hide or protect the face.
The
veil
of the temple was rent in twain.
Matt. xxvii. 51.
She, as a
veil
down to the slender waist,
Her unadornéd golden tresses wore.
Milton.
2.
A cover; a disguise; a mask; a pretense.
[I will] pluck the borrowed
veil
of modesty from the so seeming Mistress Page.
Shakespeare
3.
(Bot.)
(a)
The calyptra of mosses.
(b)
A membrane connecting the margin of the pileus of a mushroom with the stalk; – called also
velum
.
4.
(Eccl.)
A covering for a person or thing;
as, a nun’s
veil
; a paten
veil
; an altar
veil
.
5.
(Zool.)
Same as
Velum
, 3.
To take the veil
(Eccl.)
,
to receive or be covered with, a veil, as a nun, in token of retirement from the world; to become a nun.

Veil

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Veiled
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Veiling
.]
[Cf. OF.
veler
, F.
voiler
, L.
velarc
. See
Veil
,
Noun.
]
[Written also
vail
.]
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.
Milton.
2.
Fig.: To invest; to cover; to hide; to conceal.
To keep your great pretenses
veiled
.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition

Veil

VEIL

,
Noun.
[L. velum.
1.
A cover; a curtain; something to intercept the view and lude an object.
2.
A cover; a disguise. [See Vail. The latter orthography gives the Latin pronunciation as well as the English, and is to be preferred.

VEIL

, v.t.
1.
To cover with a veil; to conceal.
2.
To invest; to cover.
3.
To hide. [See Vail.]

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