Coverlite

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A lightweight decorative covering laid over a bed for warmth or appearance, usually placed on top of the blankets
2. A thin top cover for a bed, used mainly to decorate the bedroom rather than to provide significant warmth
3. An ornamental bed covering, often woven or quilted, that is spread over the sheets and blankets of a bed

Etymology: "Coverlite" is a word built from two parts: "cover," meaning a bed covering, and "lite," an old variant of "lid" or "light" in the sense of a lid or flap. A coverlid, from Middle English "covertour," is the traditional term for the top layer on a bed, and "coverlite" appears as an alternative spelling of the same thing. The "-lite" ending is a form of "lid," which is also the source of "coverlid" itself. Because the shapes "lite" and "lid" both appear in English spellings of this item, the word has been written several ways over the centuries. The earlier form that the English word descends from is the Old French "covertor," meaning a covering, from "covrir," to cover. English speakers borrowed it and reshaped it, and the spelling "coverlid" settled in as the common form, so the modern spelling "coverlite" is a variant that most dictionaries record as a less common alternative.