English
reveal
Reveal comes from Middle English revēlen, from Old French reveler, from Latin revēlō ‘to uncover’ (re- + vēlō), from vēlum ‘veil’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvēlum‘cloth, veil’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvēlō‘to cover’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErevēlō‘to reveal, uncover’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400reveler
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500revēlen
- Englishearliest quotation 2002reveal
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvēlum‘cloth, veil’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvēlō‘to cover’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErevēlō‘to reveal, uncover’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400reveler
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500revēlen
- Englishearliest quotation 2002reveal
Earliest quotation: 2002, Blain Brown, Cinematography: “A simple dolly or crane move can be used…”
The story
Also compare typologically English uncloak, dismantle, divest, invest, unmask, Russian разобла́чать (razobláčatʹ) (akin to облаче́ние (oblačénije), срыва́ть покро́вы (sryvátʹ pokróvy) (покро́в (pokróv, “cover, covering”)).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- ‘to bring’
way, always, via, vehicle, wave, weigh, wagon, wee, halfway, vector, vogue, wedge, vein, wag, wonky, headway, eunuch, venous, vex, wey, waw, wain, invective, vena, 40 more
through Latin vēlum ‘a cloth, covering, curtain, veil, awning, sail’
through Middle English revēlen
Today it means
noun The outer side of a window or door frame.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin vēlum / reveal