covert

EtymologyEdit

From Old French covert, past participle of covrir (“to cover”) (corresponding to Latin coopertus); cognate to cover.

PronunciationEdit

• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)t
• IPA^(key): /ˈkoʊ.vɚt/, /ˈkʌvɚt/

AdjectiveEdit

covert (comparative more covert, superlative most covert)

1. (now rare) Hidden, covered over; overgrown, sheltered.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.5:

     Within that wood there was a covert glade, / Foreby a narrow foord, to them well knowne […]

   • Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

     to plant a covert alley

2. (figuratively) Secret, surreptitious, concealed.
   • William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

     how covert matters may be best disclosed

   • John Milton (1608-1674)

     whether of open war or covert guile

   • 2013 July 26, Leo Hickman, “How algorithms rule the world”, The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 26: 

     The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. […] who, if anyone, is policing their use[?] Such concerns were sharpened further by the continuing revelations about how the US National Security Agency (NSA) has been using algorithms to help it interpret the colossal amounts of data it has collected from its covert dragnet of international telecommunications.

SynonymsEdit

• See also Wikisaurus:covert
• feme covert

AntonymsEdit

• overt

Derived termsEdit

• covert stuttering

Related termsEdit

• cover

TranslationsEdit

NounEdit

covert (plural coverts)

1. Area of thick undergrowth where animals hide.
2. (ornithology) A feather that covers others

TranslationsEdit

AnagramsEdit

• vector

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): /ˈkavɐt/

VerbEdit

covert

1. Third-person singular present of covern.
2. Second-person plural present of covern.
3. Second-person plural subjunctive I of covern.
4. Imperative plural of covern.

Alternative formsEdit

• covri

VerbEdit

covert

1. past participle of covrir