# cover

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈkʌvɚ/ · frequency rank #867

## Definitions
1. A lid.
2. Area or situation which screens a person or thing from view.
3. The front and back of a book, magazine, CD package, etc.
4. The top sheet of a bed.
5. A cloth or similar material, often fitted, placed over an item such as a car or sofa or food to protect it from dust, rain, insects, etc. when not being used.
6. A bag or packet.
7. A cover charge.
8. A setting at a restaurant table or formal dinner.
9. A new performance or rerecording of a previously recorded song; a cover version; a cover song.
10. A fielding position on the off side, between point and mid off, about 30° forward of square; a fielder in this position.
11. A tarpaulin or other device used to cover the wicket during rain, to prevent it getting wet.
12. The area of the stumps that is blocked by the batsman so as to defend the wicket.
13. A backup incase any player sustains injury during nets or midseries. Originally have to be declared part of squad before match.
14. A collection (or family) of subsets of a given set, whose union contains every element of said original set.
15. An envelope complete with stamps and postmarks etc.
16. A solid object, including terrain, that provides protection from enemy fire.
17. In commercial law, a buyer’s purchase on the open market of goods similar or identical to the goods contracted for after a seller has breached a contract of sale by failure to deliver the goods contracted for.
18. An insurance contract; coverage by an insurance contract.
19. A persona maintained by a spy or undercover operative; cover story.
20. A swindler's confederate.
21. The portion of a slate, tile, or shingle that is hidden by the overlap of the course above.
22. In a steam engine, the lap of a slide valve.
23. The distance between reinforcing steel and the exterior of concrete.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ḱe
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm
Proto-Italic *kom
Proto-Italic *kom-
Latin con-
Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der.
Proto-Indo-European *h₁epsder.
Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi
Proto-Indo-European *h₂wer-
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Latin operiō
Latin cooperiō
Old French covrirbor.
Middle English coveren
English cover
From Middle English coveren, borrowed from Old French covrir, cueuvrir (modern French couvrir), from Late Latin coperire, from Latin cooperiō (“I cover completely”), from co- (intensive prefix) + operiō (“I close, cover”). Displaced native Middle English thecchen and bethecchen (“to cover”) (from Old English þeccan, beþeccan (“to cover”)), Middle English helen, (over)helen, (for)helen (“to cover, conceal”) (from Old English helan (“to conceal, cover, hide”)), Middle English wrien, (be)wreon (“to cover”) (from Old English (be)wrēon (“to cover”)), Middle English hodren, hothren (“to cover up”) (from Low German hudren (“to cover up”)).
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the original sense of the verb and noun cover was “hide from view” as in its cognate covert. Except in the limited sense of “cover again”, the word recover is unrelated and is cognate with recuperate. Cognate with Spanish cubrir (“to cover”).

## Easily confused with
- **COVID** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cover-vs-covid)
- **covet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cover-vs-covet)
- **covey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cover-vs-covey)
- **cower** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cover-vs-cower)
- **covers** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cover-vs-covers)
- **covert** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cover-vs-covert)
- **culver** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cover-vs-culver)
- **Croker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cover-vs-croker)
- **Cowper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cover-vs-cowper)
- **covered** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cover-vs-covered)
- **cor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cor-vs-cover)
- **Coe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coe-vs-cover)
- **Cov** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cov-vs-cover)
- **come** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/come-vs-cover)
- **code** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-cover)
- **core** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/core-vs-cover)
- **cave** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cave-vs-cover)
- **cole** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cole-vs-cover)
- **coke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coke-vs-cover)
- **cope** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cope-vs-cover)

## Common misspellings (7)
`ccover`, `coevr`, `coverr`, `covre`, `covver`, `cvoer`, `ocver`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cover