Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Cover in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels cover as verb. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913verb
Cover

[OF. covrir, F. couvrir, fr. L. cooperire; co- + operire to cover; probably fr. ob towards, over + the root appearing in aperire to open. Cf. Aperient, Overt, Curfew.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordcover
Part of speechverb
Historical etymology[OF. covrir, F. couvrir, fr. L. cooperire; co- + operire to cover; probably fr. ob towards, over + the root appearing in aperire to open. Cf. Aperient, Overt, Curfew.]
Selected historical definitionTo overspread the surface of (one thing) with another; as, to cover wood with paint or lacquer; to cover a table with a cloth.
Signed record IDwebster1913-cover-verb-f1f75de8324b
Source locatorCIDE.C, paragraph 19448; Gutenberg eBook 661
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 661Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "cover" is labeled verb. Its etymology is recorded as: "[OF. covrir, F. couvrir, fr. L. cooperire; co- + operire to cover; probably fr. ob towards, over + the root appearing in aperire to open. Cf. Aperient, Overt, Curfew.]" The selected historical definition says: "To overspread the surface of (one thing) with another; as, to cover wood with paint or lacquer; to cover a table with a cloth."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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noun

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[F. compagnie, fr. OF. compaing. See Companion.]

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Care

[AS. caru, cearu; akin to OS. kara sorrow, Goth. kara, OHG chara, lament, and perh. to Gr. gh^rys voice. Not akin to cure. Cf. Chary.]

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Change

[F. change, fr. changer. See Change. v. t.]

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Came

[Cf. Scot. came, caim, comb, and OE. camet silver.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Course

[F. cours, course, L. cursus, fr. currere to run. See Current.]

Webster 1913 exact record

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