veil

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
veil/veɪl/

▶noun

• 1 a piece of fine material worn to protect or conceal the face.

  ■ a piece of fabric forming part of a nun's headdress, resting on the head and shoulders.

• 2 a thing that conceals, disguises, or obscures: an eerie veil of mist.

• 3 (in Jewish antiquity) the piece of precious cloth separating the sanctuary from the body of the Temple or the Tabernacle.

• 4 Botany a membrane which is attached to the immature fruiting body of some toadstools and ruptures in the course of development.

▶verb cover with or as if with a veil.

■ (usu. as adj. veiled) partially conceal or disguise: a thinly veiled threat.

– phrases
draw a veil over avoid discussing or calling attention to (something embarrassing or unpleasant).
take the veil become a nun.

– derivatives
veiling noun,
veilless adjective.

– origin ME: from Anglo-Norman Fr. veil(e), from L. vela, pl. of velum (see velum).