as in veil
something that covers or conceals like a piece of cloth
under the coverture of a raging snowstorm, the rebels undertook their surprise attack on the fortress
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Recent Examples of coverture
For centuries, the doctrine of coverture rendered married women the property of their husbands with no legal rights of their own.
—
Literary Hub, 6 Nov. 2025
While Northern women were trapped in coverture, Southern states were bypassing coverture specifically for the purpose of giving married women rights to own enslaved people.
—Trevon Logan, The Conversation, 10 June 2024
Heavenly Mother, according to our own doctrine, can’t be some wilting Victorian flower shrinking under the protective coverture of a strong man.
—The Salt Lake Tribune, 7 May 2022
The famous legal scholar William Blackstone had interpreted coverture rather strictly in the 1760s, and the American Revolution did nothing to change that.
—Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2022
That started to change by about the 18th century, when coverture laws—which counted wives as legal property of their husbands—grew more entrenched in Britain, and evolved to effectively forbid women from owning land at all.
—Michael Waters, The Atlantic, 27 Oct. 2021
In the nascent American Republic, where some humans could vote and most others were in coverture to their voting husbands or were the property of those men, the notion of majority representation was corrupted a priori.
—Shannon Pufahl, The New York Review of Books, 21 Apr. 2020
Literary Hub, 6 Nov. 2025
While Northern women were trapped in coverture, Southern states were bypassing coverture specifically for the purpose of giving married women rights to own enslaved people.
—Trevon Logan, The Conversation, 10 June 2024
Heavenly Mother, according to our own doctrine, can’t be some wilting Victorian flower shrinking under the protective coverture of a strong man.
—The Salt Lake Tribune, 7 May 2022
The famous legal scholar William Blackstone had interpreted coverture rather strictly in the 1760s, and the American Revolution did nothing to change that.
—Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2022
That started to change by about the 18th century, when coverture laws—which counted wives as legal property of their husbands—grew more entrenched in Britain, and evolved to effectively forbid women from owning land at all.
—Michael Waters, The Atlantic, 27 Oct. 2021
In the nascent American Republic, where some humans could vote and most others were in coverture to their voting husbands or were the property of those men, the notion of majority representation was corrupted a priori.
—Shannon Pufahl, The New York Review of Books, 21 Apr. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for coverture
Noun
-
Her dance of the seven veils is sexy typing.—
Classical Music Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Mar. 2026
-
The resulting works were breathtaking, immersing the viewer in luminous veils of paint that swept across the canvas, seeming to splash back up from the bottom, creating an enveloping sense of tranquility and awe that pushed against the jittery energy of Abstract Expressionism.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
While scientists have long understood the importance of this cloak, one aspect of its biology has remained deeply puzzling.—
Melissa Fleur Afshar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Mar. 2026
-
At other times, the cloak reads as an exterior, modulated, flowing sculptural layer—almost like a cloud that envelops the building, as with the Luma Tower in Arles, France.—
Norman Foster,
Artforum,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The 39 members of the group were discovered lying on their backs and covered by purple shrouds.—
Frannie Comstock,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
24 Mar. 2026
-
He had been released by the Philadelphia Phillies in February amid a shroud of controversy regarding his relationship with manager Rob Thomson and others in the organization.—
Kevin Acee,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
15 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Coverture.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/coverture. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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