Forms: α. 4, 7– veil, 4 veyle, veill-, 5 veyll-, weyll-, 7 veile. β. 6 Sc. vale, vaill, 6–7 vayle, vaile, 6–8 vail. [f. VEIL sb.1, in early use after OF. veler, voiller (mod.F. voiler) or L. vēlāre. Cf. Sp. and Pg. velar, It. velare.]
1. trans. To cover (the person, etc.) with, or as with, a veil; to conceal or hide (the face, etc.) by means of a veil or other material; to enveil.
Freq. in the pa. pple., which in some contexts may be taken as the passive of sense 3.
1382. Wyclif, Luke xxii. 64. And thei veyliden him, or hidden, and smyten his face.
1513. Douglas, Æneid, XII. xiii. 218. Thus mekill said scho; and tharwyth bad adew, Hir hed valit with a haw clayth or blew.
1601. Shaks., Twel. N., I. i. 28. The Element it selfe … Shall not behold her face at ample view: But like a Cloystresse she will vailed walke.
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, 23 May 1645. A Venus of marble, veiled from the middle to the feete.
1725. De Foe, Voy. round World (1840), 246. She was veiled till she came into the room.
1791. Cowper, Odyss., VIII. 103. Then his robe … with both hands o’er his head Ulysses drew, behind its ample folds Veiling his face, through fear to be observed.
1816. J. Wilson, City of Plague, II. ii. 309. We veil our eyes before thy light.
1867. Lady Herbert, Cradle L., v. 119. The same women closely veiled … were toiling down the rugged and slippery street.
1885–94. R. Bridges, Eros & Psyche, April, xxii. ’Midst them there Went Psyche, all in lily-whiteness veil’d.
refl. 1891. ‘Annie Thomas,’ Roll of Honor, x. 88. Miss Polthuan hats and veils herself.
transf. and fig. 1614. Sylvester, Bethulia’s Rescue, III. 315. I … Will with my Silence vail their Countenance.
1667. Milton, P. L., IX. 425. Eve separate he spies, Veil’d in a Cloud of Fragrance.
a. 1699. J. Beaumont, Psyche, VII. lxxix. She Vail’d in the scarlat of her modest cheek, Reply’d.
1728–46. Thomson, Spring, 3. Come, gentle Spring, And … veil’d in a shower Of shadowing roses, on our plains descend.
b. transf. with a thing as object. Also, to enclose or hang with a veil or curtain (quot. 1656).
Occas. passing into sense 4, but with material object.
1582. N. Lichefield, trans. Castanheda’s Conq. E. Ind., I. xvi. 42. This church … was made all of free stone, and couered or vayled ouer with bricke.
1607. Tourneur, Rev. Trag., III. v. In some fit place vaylde from the eyes a’ th’ Court.
1656. J. Smith, Pract. Physick, 208. The sides of the Cradle must be vailed, that the child may look only straight forward.
a. 1700. Ken, Edmund, Poet. Wks. 1721, II. 279. Three Leagues in Compass they the Ocean vail’d, And press’d the Billows prostrate as they sail’d.
1750. Gray, Long Story, 39. With … aprons long they hid their armour, And veil’d their weapons bright and keen.
1837. Disraeli, Venetia, I. ii. A group of elms, too scanty at present to veil their desolation.
1847. Tennyson, Princ., III. 272. She bow’d as if to veil a noble tear.
1869. J. Martineau, Ess., II. 367. She veils the solar radiance and brings on the night.
fig. 1589. Commendatory Verses Spenser’s F. Q., S.’s Wks. (1912), 409. That faire Ilands right: Which thou doest vaile in Type of Faery land, Elyzas blessed field, that Albion hight.
c. refl. To hide, cover or wreathe (oneself) in something. Usually fig.
1799. S. & Ht. Lee, Canterb. T., I. 129. [His] grieved and rankling heart … veiled itself in smiles.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, lix. ‘Done, I say,’ added Sampson, rubbing his hands and veiling himself again in his usual oily manner.
1850. McCosh, Div. Govt., III. i. (1874), 286. High truths, like high mountains, are apt to veil themselves in clouds.
d. absol. To put on or wear a veil.
1713. Mrs. Centlivre, Wonder, II. You must veil and follow him.
1835. Burnes, Trav. Bokhara (ed. 2), III. 24. Their head-dress is, perhaps, a little large, but … as they never veil, it becomes them.
2. To bestow the veil of a nun upon (a woman); to admit into monastic life as a nun.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), V. 305. Seint Bryde þat Patrik veillede … overlevede him by sixty ȝere.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 317. Thei … make a worthi pourveance Ayein the day whan thei be veiled.
c. 1420. Chron. Vilod., 623. And other maydones mony mo also, Weron veylled þo in þat abbay.
a. 1604. Hanmer, Chron. Ireland (1633), 43. The Nunne Cecubris whom Patricke first vailed of all the women in Ireland.
a. 1661. Fuller, Worthies, Essex (1662), 337. I … conceive she [Matilda Fitz-Walter] had surely been Sainted if vailed.
1886. Canon Monahan, Rec. Ardagh & Clonmacnoise, 3. Some hold … that St. Bridget of Kildare was veiled by St. Macchilla.
b. refl. To make (oneself a nun) by taking the veil. rare–1.
1631. Weever, Anc. Funeral Mon., 760. A daughter of his, vailed herselfe a Nunne.
3. To cover, enshroud or screen as or in the manner of a veil; to serve as a veil to (something).
a. Of a garment, cloth, etc.
1513. Douglas, Æneid, VIII. i. 73. A linȝe wattry garmond dyd hym vaill.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., III. ii. 99. Thus ornament is but … The beautious scarfe Vailing an Indian beautie.
1703. Pope, Thebais, I. 432. His ample hat his beamy locks o’erspread, And veil’d the starry glories of his head!
1797. Mrs. Radcliffe, Italian, xii. Their beauty, softened by the lawn that thinly veiled it.
1867. Morris, Jason, XIV. 732. Scarlet cloth, and fine silk, fit to veil The perfect limbs of dreaded Goddesses.
transf. 1842. J. Wilson, Chr. North (1857), II. 9. Shame never veiled the light of those bold eyes.
b. Of clouds, vapor, etc.
1614. Gorges, Lucan, X. 436. Thus they the time securely spent, Till mid-night vail’d the Element.
1667. Milton, P. L., IX. 452. And now from end to end Nights Hemisphere had veild the Horizon round. Ibid., XI. 229. Yonder blazing Cloud that veils the Hill.
1779. Cowper, Olney Hymns, Submission, 23. The next cloud that vails my skies.
1794. Mrs. Radcliffe, Myst. Udolpho, xxxv. The clouds … veiling the sun and stretching their shadows along the distant scene.
1820. Lamb, Elia, I. My First Play. The green curtain that veiled a heaven to my imagination.
1836. Macgillivray, Trav. Humboldt, xiv. 178. The heat became suffocating … and a reddish vapour veiled the horizon.
1871. T. R. Jones, Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4), 134. A cloud veiling the sun will cause their tentacles to fold, as though apprehensive of danger from the passing shadows.
4. fig. To conceal (some immaterial thing, condition, quality, etc.) from apprehension, knowledge or perception; to deal with, treat, etc., so as to disguise or obscure; to hide the real nature or meaning of (something). Freq. with implication of bad motives.
1538. Latimer, Remains (Parker Soc.), 399. And in what case are they in, that hath veiled treason so long!
1602. Marston, Ant. & Mel., I. Wks. 1856, I. 15. Weele not vaile our names.
1620–6. Quarles, Feast for Wormes, Ded. I dedicate … these few leaues to your truly-Noble Selfe, hoping your Lordship wil vaile my boldnes in your good acceptance.
1653. Holcroft, Procopius, Persian Wars, I. 30. Tribonianus … being a faire spoken man,… able to vail his Covetousness with abundance of Learning.
1718. Free-thinker, No. 106. 6. Popery does not appear Bare-faced in England: the Terrours of it are veiled.
a. 1770. Jortin, Serm. (1771), I. i. 4, note. Pythagoras learned to veil his precepts.
1841. D’Israeli, Amen. Lit. (1867), 311. The literary delusion … long veiled the personal history of the Earl of Surrey.
1863. Kinglake, Crimea, I. 209. That which had so long veiled his cleverness from the knowledge of mankind.
1869. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1875), III. xii. 145. The real names are veiled under the obsolete titles delighted in by the Latin writers.
5. To render less distinct or apparent; to reduce, soften, tone down.
1843. R. J. Graves, Syst. Clin. Med., xxv. 306. The mucilage veils the astringent and irritating qualities of the metallic salt.
1878. Abney, Photogr., xiv. 102. The chance of veiling the image through the reduction of the bromide unacted upon by light is increased.
6. intr. Photogr. To become dark or obscure; to darken.
1890. [see VEILING vbl. sb. 4].
1907. Hodges, Elem. Photogr. (ed. 6), 127. The high lights … should be just commencing to veil.
