uncover

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + cover, with the prefix that reverses an action,^[2][3][4][5] and appears in Middle English as uncoveren.^[6][5][7] Cover is from Old French covrir (“to cover, protect, conceal”), from Latin cooperiō (“to cover over”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Figuratively, to disclose or make known: before 1300, in the Cursor Mundi.^[2][3] Hoad dates the word to the 13th century.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the figurative sense "reveal" is recorded before the literal one;^[3] the sense of laying something bare by taking away what covers it follows about 1390, and that of taking off a lid or cover about 1410.^[2] In Middle English the participle uncovered could mean a cup without a lid, or a house without a roof,^[6][9][4] and Chaucer used it twice.^[9] From 1530 it was used of baring the head as a mark of respect, and since 1627 intransitively, to take off one's hat.^[2][3] Johnson (1755) defined it first as "to divest of a covering".^[10] In hunting it meant to drive a fox out of cover (1812), a use the English Dialect Dictionary records in Galloway in 1824,^[2][11] and in military use it meant to leave troops or a position exposed (1796).^[2]

Timeline

• before 1300 – to disclose, make known.^[2]
• c. 1390 – to lay bare by removing a covering.^[2]
• c. 1410 – to take the cover or lid off.^[2]
• 1530 – to strip of clothing; to bare the head as a mark of respect.^[2]
• 1627 – intransitive, to take off one's hat.^[2][3]
• 1796 – military, to leave exposed by moving troops.^[2]
• 1812 – hunting, to drive a fox out of cover.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bring to light something hidden; to reveal or disclose: The audit uncovered a series of false invoices.^[12][5][2]
2. To take the cover, lid or covering off something, or expose it to view: Uncover the dish for the last ten minutes of baking.^[12][5][2]
3. To take off one's hat or head covering, especially as a mark of respect.^[12][2]
4. In military use, to leave troops or a position exposed to the enemy.^[2]

Related words

• cover
• discover
• covert
• kerchief

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b 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)
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins