Shroud

Part of speech: verb, noun

Pronunciation: /ʃraʊd/

Definitions

1. A covering used to hide or protect something from sight or harm ; a piece of cloth used to wrap a deceased person before burial ; to envelop or obscure something so it is not visible
2. An item placed over an object to conceal or shield it ; fabric that covers a corpse for funerary purposes ; the act of hiding or partially obscuring an object or scene
3. Something that envelops an item to keep it out of view ; the burial shroud that wraps around a dead body ; to cover over something completely to prevent it from being seen

Etymology: Before it meant a funeral wrapping, "shroud" in Old English meant simply clothing or attire. The Old English "sċrūd" came from a Proto-Germanic root that covered dress in general, and its close relatives in Old Norse and modern Scandinavian languages still carry the sense of fine dress: the Danish and Norwegian "skrud" can mean splendid attire. The burial sense narrowed from that general meaning, which is why a shroud was once just the garment a person wore. The verb has a separate, more abstract history. It came into English from Middle English "schrouden," which traces to Anglo-Latin "scrudāre," itself built on the noun. So the act of wrapping someone in clothing gave rise to the act of concealing something in general, a shift from cloth to covering that the verb preserved. A less expected link runs the other way. The term is also a variant of "shred," the same word family that gives us scraps and strips of cloth, so a shroud and a shred were once close relatives.

Synonyms: cover, cloak, veil, envelop, wrap

Antonyms: reveal, expose, uncover, disclose, display