Unveil

How to spell unveil

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce unveil

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does unveil mean?

1. verbTo remove a covering from something, or to make something previously hidden known to the public.

Unveil in a sentence

• The company will unveil its new phone at the spring conference.

• The mayor arrived to unveil the bronze statue in the square.

Where does unveil come from?

Language of origin: French

This is a transparent English coinage built from the prefix 'un-', which marks the reversal or undoing of an action, attached to the noun and verb 'veil'. The 'veil' part travelled into English in the 1200s from the Anglo-Norman and Old French 'veile' or 'voile', which came in turn from the Latin 'velum', a word that literally meant a sail, an awning, or a cloth used as a curtain or cover. To veil something was therefore to drape it in cloth and hide it from view, and 'unveil' simply put that process into reverse. The verb 'unveil' appears in English from the late 1500s, used both literally for drawing back a curtain or cloth and figuratively for revealing a secret, a plan, or a new product. The single 'l' at the end is the usual spelling trap, since some writers expect a doubled consonant, and the silent feel of the 'ei' pairing (pronounced like 'ay') can also be mishandled.

How the word is built

• un- (reversal prefix)
• veil (a covering, from Latin velum 'sail, cloth, curtain')