reveal

The story

1. Latin · derived fromrevēlāre“to reveal, uncover”
2. Old French · derived fromreveler
3. Middle English · inherited fromrevēlen
4. English todayreveal

From Middle English revēlen, from Old French reveler, from Latin revēlāre (“to reveal, uncover”), from re- (“back, again”) + vēlāre (“to cover”), from vēlum (“a cloth, covering, curtain, veil, awning, sail”) (whence also English veil, English unveil, English voile, Russian вуаль (vualʹ), Russian завуали́ровать (zavualírovatʹ, “to veil”) (compare typologically)). Also compare typologically English uncloak, dismantle, divest, invest, unmask, Russian разобла́чать (razobláčatʹ) (akin to облаче́ние (oblačénije), срыва́ть покро́вы (sryvátʹ pokróvy) (покро́в (pokróv, “cover, covering”)).

Words from the same roots