covert

Etymology

From Middle English covert, from Old French covert, past participle of covrir (“to cover”) (corresponding to Latin coopertus); cognate to cover.

adj

1. (figurative) Secret, surreptitious, concealed.
   covert operations
   If the President were to inform the Gang of Eight that he signed a covert action finding to overthrow the government of Canada, he would be required to tell others at least something about the finding. 2010-09-28, Marc Ambinder, “A Step Forward for Oversight of Intelligence”, in The Atlantic
   Such concerns were sharpened further by the continuing revelations about how the US National Security Agency (NSA) has been using algorithms to help it interpret the colossal amounts of data it has collected from its covert dragnet of international telecommunications. 2013-07-26, Leo Hickman, “How algorithms rule the world”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 26
2. (now rare) Hidden, covered over; overgrown, sheltered.
3. (law, historical) Under coverture.
   feme covert
   […] a separate use for a woman cannot be created unless she is covert, or unless in immediate contemplation of her marriage. 1880, Weekly Notes of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the County Courts of Philadelphia, and the United States District and Circuit Courts for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, page 292
   […] in the second case, as long as the woman is covert she cannot anticipate the income, and a mere alienation of her interest is not an attempt to anticipate. 1890, Albert Gibson, Robert McLean, Law Notes, page 77
   Being advised of the fact that the woman is covert, he stands charged with a knowledge of her disability . A married woman has no power to deal as principal if she is in fact a surety […] 1906, Abraham Clark Freeman, The American State Reports: Containing the Cases of General Value and Authority Subsequent to Those Contained in the "American Decisions" [1760-1869] and the "American Reports" [1869-1887] Decided in the Courts of Last Resort of the Several States [1886-1911], page 305

noun

1. A covering.
2. A disguise.
3. A hiding place.
4. Area of thick undergrowth where animals hide.
5. (ornithology) A feather that covers the bases of flight feathers.
   When he felt the trappings being taken off him, so that he was in hunting order, Cully did make some movements as if to rouse. He raised his crest, his shoulder coverts and the soft feathers of his thighs. 1958, T[erence] H[anbury] White, chapter I, in The Once and Future King, New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam's Sons, book I (The Sword in the Stone)