Etymograph

English

covert

Covert comes from Old French covert, from covrir ‘to cover’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *opweriō.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*opweriōreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoperiō‘cover’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcooperiōas cooperīre‘to cover wholly or over, overwhelm, clothe’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400covrir‘to cover’
  5. Old French, derivedc. 842–1400covertpast participle of covrir
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500covert
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590covert

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*opweriōreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoperiō‘cover’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcooperiōas cooperīre‘to cover wholly or over, overwhelm, clothe’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400covrir‘to cover’
  5. Old French, derivedc. 842–1400covertpast participle of covrir
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500covert
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590covert

Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto V: “Within that wood there was a covert glade, Foreby…”

The story

Not closely related to overt, despite what the most common pronunciation would suggest.

Linked words

through Latin operiō ‘cover’

operculum, 7 more

Today it means

adj Secret, surreptitious, concealed.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *opweriō / covert

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