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couverture

Etymology and origin of the French word couverture

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1120, Psautier de Cambridge
Ultimate origin
Latin (cooperio)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ku.vɛʁ.tyʁ/[1]

Forms

couverture f (plural couvertures)[1] Old French coverture, covreture.[1][2]

Etymology

It is derived from couvrir with the suffix “-ure”, probably influenced by Late Latin coopertūra (“covering, veil”).[3][4][5] The Grand Robert, the GLLF and Wiktionary take it straight from the Late Latin noun.[6][7][1] The verb continues Latin cooperiō (“to cover completely”), from operiō (“to cover”).[8] Old French also had a masculine covertor, from coopertōrium.[2]

Cognate with Spanish cobertura and Italian copritura.[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cambridge Psalter (mid-12th century) uses it for what covers and protects, rendering protectione alarum tuarum “the protection of your wings”: la coverture de la tue salut.[3][4][2]

Semantic evolution

Wace (about 1160–1170) has it for the roof of a house, still its sense in building, and Alexandre de Paris (about 1180) for the cloth spread over a bed, now the dominant sense.[3][4] It named the cover of a book in 1386.[3]

From the 12th century it also took the figurative senses of couvrir, a pretence, a cover (about 1160), lost after the classical period.[4][3] A new figurative value appeared in finance, a sum held as security (1835), whence a front hiding criminal activities (1902), social and medical cover, and in the press the coverage of an event.[4][9][1] Tirer la couverture à soi “to take the lion's share” is in the Académie dictionary of 1798.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 1120 – “Protection, covering”, in the Cambridge Psalter.[4][3]
  • c. 1160–1170 – A roof; a pretence, in Wace.[3]
  • c. 1180 – A bed cover, in Alexandre de Paris.[3]
  • 1386 – The cover of a book.[3]
  • 1798 – Tirer la couverture à soi.[9]
  • 1835 – A financial security.[3][9]
  • 1902 – A front for illegal activities.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A blanket: couverture de laine, tirer la couverture à soi, to take the lion's share of the credit.[5][1]
  2. The roof, roofing of a building: couverture en tuiles.[5][7]
  3. The cover of a book or magazine: en couverture.[3][1]
  4. (finance, insurance) Security, cover: couverture sociale.[4][3]
  5. A front, a cover for secret or illegal activities.[4]
  6. (press, television) Coverage (of an event).[1]
  7. (military) Covering forces protecting a position.[7]
  • couvert
  • couvercle
  • couvrir
  • Late Latin coopertūra

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  9. ^ a b c d Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
Cite this entry

“Couverture.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/couverture. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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