Vail

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /veɪl/

Definitions

1. To lower or remove one's hat as a sign of respect or greeting
2. To show respect or reverence by taking off a covering from one's head or to lower it as a sign of greeting or humility
3. To tilt or take off a hat to express respect or polite acknowledgment

Etymology: The verb "vail" is now mostly remembered from the phrase "to vail one's bonnet," but it once described a whole ritual of deference. It descends from Old French "vail," from "valoir," meaning "to be worth," the same Latin root that gives English "value" and "valiant." The notion behind it is a kind of lowering: to yield or make oneself worth less than another, so the gesture of baring the head or lowering the flag signalled that one held the other in higher regard. The word also shows a second, separate line of descent. Middle English had a verb "valen," which may come from Anglo-Norman "valer" or be a clipped form of "avalen," meaning "to lower or let down." Over time these two streams merged in English, so that "vail" came to carry both the sense of showing respect and the older idea of lowering something. The result is a word whose everyday meaning of taking off a hat rests on the simple physical act of letting something sink.

Synonyms: veil, cover

Antonyms: reveal