coverture
noun
coverture is a noun meaning “Concealing cover, disguise, veil; (also figurative)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled C-O-V-E-R-T-U-R-E, and it appears about once in every 35 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of coverture is covertures.
What does coverture mean?
noun
- 1
Concealing cover, disguise, veil; (also figurative).
- 2
A common law doctrine developed in England during the Middle Ages, whereby a woman's legal existence, upon marriage, was subsumed by that of her husband, particularly with regard to ownership of property and protection.
- 3
Alternative spelling of couverture.
- 4
Shelter, hiding place.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of coverture
- covertures plural
- couverture
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is coverture?
Coverture appears about once in every 35 million words in written English, the 180,281st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Where does coverture come from?
From Middle English, borrowed from Old French coverture, from covrir (“to cover”) or from Late Latin coopertura. Doublet of couverture.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).