Whelven

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Archaic verb meaning to turn something upside down or over ; to cover an object by placing a container or vessel over it
2. An old word for overturning something so that its underside faces up ; to conceal or shelter a thing by setting a vessel over it
3. Obsolete verb describing the act of inverting an object ; the act of covering something by turning a container down over it

Etymology: Before it meant tipping a bowl or pot over something, this verb meant to arch. Its Middle English form, "whelven", probably descends from an Old English verb tied to a word for a vault or curved roof, so the idea of a curve came first and the idea of an overturned container came later. Its relatives in German ("wölben") and Dutch ("welven") still mean to arch or vault. The move from building arches to covering things seems natural once you picture an upturned bowl, with its rounded dome shape. The verb faded from use, and it now survives mainly in dictionaries as a record of that curved shape.