Veil - Dictionary Definition and Overview

Veil :  (noun)
1: a garment that covers the head and face [syn: head covering]
2: the inner embryonic membrane of higher vertebrates (especially when covering the head at birth) [syn: caul, embryonic membrane]
3: a vestment worn by a priest at High Mass in the Roman Catholic Church; a silk shawl [syn: humeral veil] (verb)
1: to obscure, or conceal with or as if with a veil; "women in Afghanistan veil their faces" [ant: unveil]
2: make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing; "a hidden message"; "a veiled threat" [syn: obscure, blot out, obliterate, hide]

Based on WordNet 2.0

Veil : \Veil\ (v[=a]l), n. [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 unadorn['e]d golden tresses wore. --Milton.

2. A cover; disguise; a mask; a pretense.

[I will] pluck the borrowed veil of modesty from the so seeming Mistress Page. --Shak.

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. (Zo["o]l.) 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.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Veil : \Veil\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Veiled; p. pr. & vb. n. Veiling.] [Cf. OF. veler, F. voiler, L. velarc. See Veil, n.] [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. --Shak.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Vail \Vail\, v. t. [Aphetic form of avale. See Avale, Vale.] [Written also vale, and veil.] 1. To let fail; to allow or cause to sink. [Obs.]

Vail your regard Upon a wronged, I would fain have said, a maid! --Shak.

2. To lower, or take off, in token of inferiority, reverence, submission, or the like.

France must vail her lofty-plumed crest! --Shak.

Without vailing his bonnet or testifying any reverence for the alleged sanctity of the relic. --Sir. W. Scott.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Vail \Vail\, v. i. To yield or recede; to give place; to show respect by yielding, uncovering, or the like. [Written also vale, and veil.] [Obs.]

Thy convenience must vail to thy neighbor's necessity. --South.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Example Usage of Veil

kidornery: RT @mildreds: Merry Christmas from MU! - "The Cat Wife" radio drama from 1938 performed by the cast of "Margo Veil". http://bit.ly/8nFoJk
Allee10: Black Veil Brides tonight! :) i think i maybe hopefully try my hardest to go!
TessaKim: Black mini Birdcage Veil - Special Occasion: $24.00 This lovely little black mini birdcage Veil .. http://bit.ly/6c6Wfv
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