Covers

How to spell covers

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce covers

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does covers mean?

1. verbPlaces something over, conceals, deals with, or is sufficient for something (third-person singular).
2. nounProtective layers placed over something, such as bedclothes or lids.

Covers in a sentence

• verb

  The warranty covers accidental damage for two years.

• noun

  She pulled the covers up to her shoulders on the cold night.

• verb

  This report covers the last three financial quarters.

• noun

  The patio furniture covers kept the rain off the cushions.

Where does covers come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb cooperire, which meant to cover over completely, built from the intensifying prefix co- (together, wholly) and operire (to close or shut). It travelled into English through Old French covrir during the medieval period, settling as the verb 'cover' by the 1200s. From the early sense of placing something over an object came a wide spread of meanings: to conceal, to protect, to be enough for a cost, and to report on a topic. The plain final -s here simply marks either the plural of the noun or the third-person singular of the verb, so the spelling holds no real trap beyond the single v that some writers are tempted to double. The same Latin root also gives us 'kerchief' and 'curfew', which share that idea of covering or shutting away.

How the word is built

• cover (from Latin cooperire: to cover over)
• -s (plural noun / third-person singular verb ending)