Etymology

unveil

U1N1V4E1I1L1

Today it means: To remove a veil from; to uncover; to reveal something hidden. Full definition →

Middle English *unveilen ← Latin velum
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromvelum
  2. Middle English · inherited from*unveilen
  3. English todayunveil

From Middle English *unveilen (suggested by past participle unveiled, vnueylyd (“unveiled”)). Equivalent to un- + veil. Ultimately from Latin velum (whence also English voile, English reveal, Russian вуа́ль (vuálʹ), Russian завуали́ровать (zavualírovatʹ) (compare typologically)). Also compare typologically uncloak, unmask, Russian разобла́чать (razobláčatʹ) (akin to облаче́ние (oblačénije)).

Words from the same roots

Latinvelum all →

veilvelumveliferveliferousvelo-

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.