velare

velare¹ to veil

Etymology tree of velare¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin vēlum

French voile

Italian velo

Spanish velo

English velum

Latin vēlō

Italian velare

Spanish velar

From the same root · velare¹

Latin vēxillum ← vēlum

Latin revēlō ← vēlō

Latin vēlāmen ← vēlō

Latin vēlāmentum ← vēlō

Pronunciation

• /veˈla.re/^[1]

Forms

velare (first-person singular present vélo, first-person singular past historic velài, past participle velàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

The word for “to veil” is inherited from Latin vēlāre (“to cover, clothe, veil”), from vēlum (“sail; cloth, curtain”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} DELI notes that the Latin verb seems older than its participle vēlātus (“covered with a veil”).^[2]

The verb is common to the Romance languages, except Romanian: French voiler, Occitan velar, Spanish velar and Portuguese velar.^[6][7] In Spanish and Portuguese it came to mean “to wed”, with velarse “to marry”.^[6]

Latin vēlum goes back to Proto-Italic *wekslo-, as the diminutive vexillum (“banner”) shows.^[8][3] Nocentini and de Vaan derive it from Proto-Indo-European *weg- (“to weave”), which is continued in Celtic and Germanic, including Old Irish figim (“to weave”).^[3][8] De Vaan also names *u̯egʰ- (“to convey”) as less likely in sense, and Peruzzi's view that two older forms, one from *wes- (“to clothe”), merged in it.^[8] DELI leaves open whether vēlum “veil” and vēla “sails” share one origin.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the verb to 1304–1308, Nocentini to the early 14th century, and Zingarelli to 1287.^[4][3][9] In Dante's Commedia it already means to cover with a thin layer and to hide;^[2] Venus is said to veil the Fishes with her light: “velando i Pesci ch'erano in sua scorta”.^[2][10][4]

Semantic evolution

Dante also used it reflexively for taking the veil as a nun, and Boccaccio for a woman veiling herself.^[2][7] Petrarch wrote of fair hair that was then veiled and of a sky with no cloud to veil it.^[10] Fra Giordano used it of Christ's blindfolded eyes at the Passion.^[11]

Vasari, in 1550, has the painter's sense: to lay a thin coat of colour over a dry one to soften it, which some commentators already see in Dante.^[2] Redi, before 1698, has the pronominal use, to be covered with a thin layer.^[2] The senses “to dim” and “to make dull or lifeless” are recorded only from the 19th century.^[2] Tommaseo records the veiling of all holy images in church from Passion Sunday.^[10][12] In basketball it now names screening an opponent without contact.^[4]

Timeline

• 1304–1308 – First record of the verb.^[4]
• 1300–1313 – Dante: to cover with a thin layer.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante: to take the veil.^[2]
• 1362–1364 – Boccaccio: to veil oneself.^[2]
• 1550 – Vasari: to glaze a colour with a thin coat.^[2]
• Before 1698 – Redi: to become covered with a thin layer.^[2]
• 1891 – Petrocchi: to dim, to make lifeless.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To veil, to cover with a veil or other light fabric so as to hide, protect or adorn: Il sagrestano velò il crocifisso con un panno viola.^[4][13][12]
2. (archaic) To make a woman take the veil, to make a nun of her;^[4][13][12] velarsi, to take the veil.^[4][13][12]
3. To cover with a thin layer like a veil; to dim or partly hide from sight: Una leggera foschia velava le colline.^[4][13][14]
4. (painting) To glaze, to spread a thin layer of colour over a dry one for a particular effect.^[4][12][15]
5. (figurative) To cloud, to make dull or lifeless; to make a voice faint or muffled.^[4][13][14]
6. (figurative) To conceal; to present something in a softened way.^[4][13][9]
7. (basketball) To screen, to block an opponent's path by standing in front of him without contact.^[4]

Word family

• velato
• velatamente
• velatura
• velamento
• velabile
• svelare
• disvelare

velare² velar

Etymology tree of velare²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin vēlum

French voile

Italian velo

Italian velare

Spanish velo

English velum

From the same root · velare²

Latin vēlō ← vēlum

Latin vēxillum ← vēlum

Pronunciation

• /veˈla.re/^[1]

Forms

velare m or f by sense (plural velari)^[1]

Etymology

The word for “velar” is formed from Italian velo + -are, from velo palatino, the soft palate.^[3][2][4][1] GRADIT and the GDLI compare French vélaire, recorded in 1874, and DEI calls the word a learned formation on Latin vēlum, like the French one.^[4][11][7] DELI notes that the derivative velarizzazione matches vélarisation, though it is not known which is older.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is from the linguist P. E. Guarnerio in 1897, who asks leave to keep the inexact term “guttural” for the sounds that should properly be called velar or velopalatal.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective is used in anatomy of the soft palate, and in phonetics of sounds made with the back of the tongue against it; as a feminine noun, una velare, it names such a consonant or vowel.^[4][13][11] In Italian the velars are /k/, /g/ and /n/ before them, and in a wider use the back vowels /o/, /ɔ/ and /u/.^[12] Gramsci wrote of studies on the Indo-European velars.^[11]

English velar, in phonetics from 1876, came from French or Latin.^[16]

Timeline

• 1874 – French vélaire is recorded.^[4][11]
• 1876 – English velar in phonetics.^[16]
• 1897 – First Italian record, in Guarnerio.^[2][3]
• 1957 – Velarizzazione.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (anatomy) Of the soft palate.^[4][13][14]
2. (phonetics) velar: of a consonant or vowel articulated with the back of the tongue touching or approaching the soft palate.^[4][13][12]

Noun

1. (phonetics) A velar consonant or vowel.^[4][13][11]

Word family

• velarizzare
• velarizzazione