cove

See also: Cove

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Coved vault ceiling, Alhambra (Spain)
Cadgwith cove, Cornwall (United Kingdom)

From Middle English cove, from Old English cofa (“chamber; den”), from Proto-Germanic *kubô. Cognate with German Koben, Swedish kofva. This word has probably survived as long as it has due to its coincidental phonetic resemblence to the unrelated word "cave".

Noun

cove (plural coves)

  1. (now uncommon) A hollow in a rock; a cave or cavern. [from 9th c.]
  2. (architecture) A concave vault or archway, especially the arch of a ceiling. [from 16th c.]
  3. A small coastal inlet, especially one having high cliffs protecting vessels from prevailing winds. [from 16th c.]
    • Holland
      vessels which were in readiness for him within secret coves and nooks
  4. (US) A strip of prairie extending into woodland.
  5. A recess or sheltered area on the slopes of a mountain. [from 19th c.]
  6. (nautical) The wooden roof of the stern gallery of an old sailing warship. [from 19th c.]
  7. (nautical) A thin line, sometimes gilded, along a yacht's strake below deck level. [from 19th c.]

(Can we add an example for this sense?)

Translations

Verb

cove (third-person singular simple present coves, present participle coving, simple past and past participle coved)

  1. (architecture) To arch over; to build in a hollow concave form; to make in the form of a cove.
    • H. Swinburne
      The mosques and other buildings of the Arabians are rounded into domes and coved roofs.

Etymology 2

Britain ante-1570. From Romani kodo (“this one, him”), perhaps change in consonants due to lower class th-fronting, or Romani kova (“that person”).

Noun

cove (plural coves)

  1. (Britain, dated, informal) A fellow; a man.
    • 2012, Pratchett, Terry, Dodger, →ISBN, page 326:
      At one point, a friendly-looking sort of cove with silver hair and a grandfatherly kind of face beamed at him […]
  2. (Australia and Polari) A friend; a mate.

Synonyms

  • (man): For semantic relationships of this sense, see man in the Thesaurus.
  • (friend): For semantic relationships of this sense, see friend in the Thesaurus.

Antonyms

  • (man): covess, mort (specific antonyms)
  • (man): For semantic relationships of this sense, see woman in the Thesaurus. (general antonyms)
  • (friend): For semantic relationships of this sense, see enemy in the Thesaurus.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

Compare French couver, Italian covare. See covey.

Verb

cove (third-person singular simple present coves, present participle coving, simple past and past participle coved)

  1. To brood, cover, over, or sit over, as birds their eggs.
    • Holland
      Not being able to cove or sit upon them [eggs], she [the female tortoise] bestoweth them in the gravel.

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin cophinus, from Ancient Greek κόφινος (kóphinos, “basket”).

Pronunciation

  • (Balearic) IPA(key): /ˈkɔ.və/
  • (Central) IPA(key): /ˈkɔ.bə/
  • (Valencian) IPA(key): /ˈkɔ.ve/

Noun

cove m (plural coves)

  1. A large basket

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈko.ve/
  • Hyphenation: có‧ve

Noun

cove f

  1. plural of cova

Anagrams

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