voile

See also: voilé

English

Voile in front of graffiti

Etymology

Borrowed from French voile (“veil”). Doublet of veil and velum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɔɪl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔɪl

Noun

voile (countable and uncountable, plural voiles)

1. A light, translucent cotton fabric used for making curtains and dresses.
   • 1920, United States Tariff Commission, William Alexander Graham Clark, Henry Chalmers, Blanche C. Howlett, Cotton Yarn: Import and Export Trade in Relation to the Tariff, page 80:

     The domestic voile made from imported gray yarns and woven in the United States is the best combination to be had.

   • 1932, Hiram T. Nones, Philippine Cotton Piece-Goods Market‎^[1], page 14:

     Cheap narrow voiles.—Plain color voiles practically are off the market. […] Better grades of voiles usually come in the 39-inch width, […] .

   • 2006, Jorie Johnson, Feltmaking and Wool Magic‎^[2], page 84:

     Pull out the basting thread, gently remove the voile from the three-minute sample, and reshape the sample with a steam iron.

Descendants

• → Irish: voil

Translations

translucent fabric

• Bulgarian: воа́л (bg) m (voál)
• Czech: voál m

Anagrams

• Olive, lovie, olive, viole

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vwal/

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

From an Old French voil, veil, from Latin vēlum, from Proto-Indo-European.

Noun

voile m (plural voiles)

1. (countable) veil

Derived terms

• lever le voile
• prendre le voile
• toutes voiles dehors
• voile du palais
• voile intégral

 

Descendants

• → Bulgarian: воа́л (voál)
• → English: voile
  • → Irish: voil
• → Italian: voile
• → Romanian: voal
• → Russian: вуаль (vualʹ)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old French voile, veile, veille, from Vulgar Latin *vēla, from the plural of Latin vēlum, from Proto-Indo-European.

Noun

voile f (plural voiles)

1. (countable) sail

   Hissons la grande voile, matelots !

   Raise the mainsail, seamen!

2. (uncountable, sports) sailing

   La voile, il n’y a rien de mieux pour se détendre ! J’en ai fait tout le week-end.

   Sailing, there's nothing better for relaxing! I did it all weekend.

Derived terms

• à voile et à vapeur
• faire de la voile
• hisser les voiles
• mettre les voiles
• planche à voile
• voile latine
• voiler
• voilier
• vol à voile

Further reading

• “voile”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• olive, viole, violé

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from French voile. Doublet of vela.

Noun

voile m (invariable)

1. voile

Anagrams

• Elvio, olive, ovile, viole

Old French

Alternative forms

• veile

Alternative forms

• veile, veille

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *vēla, from the plural of vēlum.

Noun

voile oblique singular, f (oblique plural voiles, nominative singular voile, nominative plural voiles)

1. sail (large piece of fabric attached to the mast of a watercraft)

Descendants

• French: voile
• Norman: vaile

Romanian

Noun

voile

1. definite nominative/accusative plural of voie