Etymologically
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cloak

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /kləʊk/[1]
  • US: /kloʊk/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English cloke,[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Old French cloke, cloque, an Old North French variant of cloche (“bell; cloak”),[6][7][8][9][10] from Medieval Latin clocca (“bell; travellers' cape”),[6][7][3][4] so called from its bell-like shape.[6][7][3][8] The word is thus a doublet of clock.[6][7][5] Hoad notes that the Medieval Latin word is recorded from the 7th century and is perhaps of Irish origin.[10] The verb is formed from the noun.[6][7][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

A loose outer garment worn over other clothes: 1293, as cloke in an English word inside a Latin law record,[2][11] and about 1300 in Laȝamon's “Brut”.[6][2] Etymonline glosses the early word as a long, loose outer garment without sleeves.[7]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the cloak was everyday wear for both men and women in England through the 16th century, as protection from the weather, and that a high-collared circular form, often called a Spanish cloak, came back into fashion around 1800–1840.[7] The figurative sense, that which covers or conceals, a pretext, is recorded from 1526,[6][7] and the verb, to cover over or conceal, from 1509;[6][11][4] the literal verb, to wrap in a cloak, is recorded from about 1521.[6] In the 17th century the word was used for an academic or clerical gown, and contemptuously for a Presbyterian or Independent minister.[6] In zoology it has been used since 1842 for the mantle of molluscs.[6] Cloak-and-dagger, of intrigue and espionage, is recorded from 1848 and is said to translate French de cape et d'épée.[7][12] In underworld slang a cloak was a watch-case, from 1718.[13]

Timeline

  • 1293 – a loose outer garment.[2][11]
  • 1509 – verb, to cover over, conceal.[6][11][4]
  • c. 1521 – verb, to wrap in a cloak.[6]
  • 1526 – figurative, a pretext or outward show.[6]
  • 1641 – an academic or clerical gown (obsolete by 1727).[6]
  • 1718 – underworld slang, a watch-case.[13]
  • 1842 – the mantle of a mollusc.[6]
  • 1848 – cloak-and-dagger.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A loose outer garment, usually sleeveless, fastened at the neck and hanging from the shoulders; a cape.[14][4][8]
  2. Something that covers or hides; a disguise or pretext: under a cloak of secrecy.[14][4][6]
  3. (zoology) The mantle of a mollusc.[6][4]

Verb

  1. To cover with a cloak, or as if with one: Fog cloaked the harbour by evening.[14][4][6]
  2. To hide or mask: He cloaked his fear with jokes.[14][4][6]

Word family

  • cloakless
  • cloakroom
  • uncloak
  • undercloak
  • cloak-and-dagger
  • mourning cloak
  • cloak fern

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  12. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  13. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  14. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins