couverture French · revision 16888

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1120, Psautier de Cambridge|origins=la cooperio}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ku.vɛʁ.tyʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''couverture''' ''f'' (plural couvertures)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|coverture]], [[m|fro|covreture]].^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is derived from [[couvrir]] with the suffix “-ure”, probably influenced by [[la-lat|coopertūra|t=covering, veil]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) The Grand Robert, the GLLF and Wiktionary take it straight from the Late Latin noun.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary) The verb continues [[la|cooperiō|t=to cover completely]], from [[m|la|operiō|t=to cover]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Old French also had a masculine [[m|fro|covertor]], from [[m|la|coopertōrium]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[es|cobertura]] and [[it|copritura]].^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==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''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) It named the cover of a book in 1386.^(TLFi)

+

+ From the 12th century it also took the figurative senses of [[couvrir]], a pretence, a cover (about 1160), lost after the classical period.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) 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.^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF)^(Wiktionary) ''Tirer la couverture à soi'' “to take the lion's share” is in the Académie dictionary of 1798.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1120 – “Protection, covering”, in the Cambridge Psalter.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1160–1170 – A roof; a pretence, in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1180 – A bed cover, in Alexandre de Paris.^(TLFi)

+ * 1386 – The cover of a book.^(TLFi)

+ * 1798 – ''Tirer la couverture à soi''.^(BHVF)

+ * 1835 – A financial security.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+ * 1902 – A front for illegal activities.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|blanket]]: ''couverture de laine'', ''tirer la couverture à soi'', to take the lion's share of the credit.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The roof, roofing of a building: ''couverture en tuiles''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # The [[m|en|cover]] of a book or magazine: ''en couverture''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(finance, insurance)'' Security, cover: ''couverture sociale''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ # A front, a cover for secret or illegal activities.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(press, television)'' [[m|en|coverage|alt=Coverage]] (of an event).^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(military)'' Covering forces protecting a position.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[couvert]]

+ * [[couvercle]]

+ * [[couvrir]]

+ * [[la-lat|coopertūra]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}