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
-
Early slayers often originate between realms—people who have been near death and pulled back, or have the markings of potential vampires, or who are born at times of the year when the veil between worlds is thin.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
-
Sometimes the veil of nanlaban fell.—
Sean Williams,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Women in black cloaks with their faces and hands covered in line with their religious faith waited in the rain for limited amounts of food to be dispersed.—
Jane Arraf,
NPR,
22 Jan. 2026
-
The campaign included guerrilla marketing tactics throughout Seoul, with individuals in black cloaks branded with the album logo appearing in districts like Gangnam, Seongsu, and Hongdae.—
Hannah Abraham,
Forbes.com,
17 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
One man is covered with a bloody white shroud inside a body bag.—
Marin Scott,
NBC news,
14 Jan. 2026
-
The opposition needs to offer a credible safe exit for these regime insiders, convincing them that the Islamic Republic is no longer their shield, but their shroud.—
Karim Sadjadpour,
The Atlantic,
10 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Coverture.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/coverture. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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