covert

covert
covertly, adv.covertness, n.
adj. /koh"veuhrt, kuv"euhrt/; n. /kuv"euhrt, koh"veuhrt/, adj.
1. concealed; secret; disguised.
2. covered; sheltered.
3. Law. (of a wife) under the protection of one's husband.
n.
4. a covering; cover.
5. a shelter or hiding place.
6. concealment or disguise.
7. Hunting. a thicket giving shelter to wild animals or game.
8. Also called tectrix. Ornith. one of the small feathers that cover the bases of the large feathers of the wings and tail. See diag. under bird.
9. See covert cloth.
[1275-1325; ME < AF, OF < L coopertus, ptp. of cooperire to cover completely; see COVER]
Syn. 1. clandestine, surreptitious, furtive.
Pronunciation. COVERT, related to cover, has historically been pronounced /kuv"euhrt/, with /u/, the same stressed vowel found in cover. This /u/ is the traditional and unchallenged vowel in many other English words spelled with stressed o followed by v, voiced th, or a nasal in the same syllable, words of high frequency like love and above, mother and other, some and honey.
The adjective COVERT, however, by analogy with overt /oh verrt", oh"veuhrt/, its semantic opposite, has developed the pronunciation /koh"veuhrt/, perhaps because of the frequent coupling of the two terms in the news media. This is now the more common pronunciation for the adjective in American English, though not in British English, which retains the historical pronunciation. For the noun senses, less likely to appear in the news or to be contrasted with overt and its /oh/ sound, the historical /kuv"euhrt/ remains the more frequent pronunciation.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Covert — Cov ert (k?v ?rt), a. [OF. covert, F. couvert, p. p. of couvrir. See {Cover}, v. t.] 1. Covered over; private; hid; secret; disguised. [1913 Webster] How covert matters may be best disclosed. Shak. [1913 Webster] Whether of open war or covert… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Covert — ist der Name mehrerer Orte in den Vereinigten Staaten: Covert (Kansas) Covert (Michigan) Covert (Nebraska) Covert (New York) Covert (Pennsylvania) Personen: Allen Covert (* 1964), US amerikanischer Schauspieler und Filmproduzent John Covert… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Covert — Cov ert, n. [OF. See {Covert}, a.] 1. A place that covers and protects; a shelter; a defense. [1913 Webster] A tabernacle . . . for a covert from storm. Is. iv. 6. [1913 Webster] The highwayman has darted from his covered by the wayside. Prescott …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • covert — [kō′vərt, kuv′ərt] adj. [OFr, pp. of covrir,COVER] 1. concealed, hidden, disguised, or surreptitious [a covert threat] 2. Archaic sheltered; protected 3. Law protected by a husband: said of a married woman n. 1. a covered or protected place;… …   English World dictionary

  • covert — (adj.) c.1300, from O.Fr. covert hidden, obscure, underhanded, lit. covered, pp. of covrir to cover (see COVER (Cf. cover)). Related: Covertly …   Etymology dictionary

  • covert — I adjective clandestine, cloaked, concealed, covered, cryptic, cryptical, dark, delitescent, disguised, furtive, hidden, insidious, invisible, latent, muffled, mysterious, mystic, mystical, nonapparent, occult, out of sight, private, screened,… …   Law dictionary

  • covert — *secret, clandestine, surreptitious, underhand, underhanded, stealthy, furtive Analogous words: hidden, concealed, screened (see HIDE): disguised, dissembled, masked, cloaked, camouflaged (see DISGUISE vb) Antonyms: overt Contrasted words: open,… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • covert — meaning ‘secret, disguised’, is pronounced like cover, although the AmE pronunciation like over is gaining ground in BrE and elsewhere …   Modern English usage

  • covert — [adj] clandestine, underhanded buried, camouflaged, cloaked, concealed, disguised, dissembled, furtive, hidden, hush hush*, incog*, incognito, masked, obscured, private, privy, QT*, secret, shrouded, stealthy, sub rosa, surreptitious, ulterior,… …   New thesaurus

  • covert — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ not openly acknowledged or displayed. ► NOUN 1) a thicket in which game can hide. 2) a feather covering the base of a bird s main flight or tail feather. DERIVATIVES covertly adverb. ORIGIN Old French, covered …   English terms dictionary

  • covert — [[t]kʌ̱və(r)t, ko͟ʊvɜː(r)t[/t]] coverts 1) ADJ GRADED: usu ADJ n Covert activities or situations are secret or hidden. [FORMAL] They have been supplying covert military aid to the rebels... The depth of covert racism in my own profession… …   English dictionary

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