take the veil

verb

To retire into a convent and live as a nun.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbtake the veil (third-person singular simple present takes the veil, present participle taking the veil, simple past took the veil, past participle taken the veil)

present singular third person takes the veil · participle present taking the veil · past took the veil · participle past taken the veil

  1. idiomaticTo retire into a convent and live as a nun.
    1 more example

    “[…] I shall devote myself for a time to the examination of the Roman Catholic dogmas, and to a careful study of the workings of their system: if I find it to be, as I half suspect it is, the one best calculated to ensure the doing of all things decently and in order, I shall embrace the tenets of Rome and probably take the veil.”

    1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter VII, in Jane Eyre. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 185

Translations

Finnish mennä nunnaluostariin, ryhtyä nunnaksi
  • mennä nunnaluostariinTranslations
  • ryhtyä nunnaksiTranslations
French prendre le voile
  • prendre le voileTranslations
Hungarian felveszi a fátylat
  • felveszi a fátylatTranslations
Polish wstępować do klasztoru, wstępować do zakonu
  • wstępować do klasztoruTranslations
  • wstępować do zakonuTranslations
  • wstąpić do klasztoruTranslations
  • wstąpić do zakonuTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

take the veil. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20the%20veil

MLA

“take the veil.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20the%20veil. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “take the veil,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20the%20veil.

Source: take the veil on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.