cove

Meanings

Noun

• A hollow in a rock; a cave or cavern.
• A concave vault or archway, especially the arch of a ceiling.
• A small coastal inlet, especially one having high cliffs protecting vessels from prevailing winds.
• A strip of prairie extending into woodland.
• A recess or sheltered area on the slopes of a mountain.
• The wooden roof of the stern gallery of an old sailing warship.
• A thin line, sometimes gilded, along a yacht's strake below deck level.
• A fellow; a man.
• A friend; a mate.

Verb

• To arch over; to build in a hollow concave form; to make in the form of a cove.
• To brood, cover, or sit over, as birds their eggs.

Related

Opposite words

• covess, mort

Origin

• From Middle English cove, from Old English cofa ("chamber; den"), from Proto-Germanic *kubô. Cognate with German Koben, Swedish kova. This word has probably survived as long as it has due to its coincidental phonetic resemblence to the unrelated word "cave".
• Britain ante-1570. From Romani kodo ("this one, him"), perhaps change in consonants due to lower class th-fronting, or Romani kova ("that person").
• Compare French couver, Italian covare. See covey.