VEIL

An indispensable part of the outdoor dress of Eastern Ladies, who live secluded from the sight of all men except their own husbands and their nearest relatives. If an Egyptian lady is surprised uncovered, she quickly draws her veil over her face, with some exclamation like, "O my misfortune." To lift or remove one’s veil was to insult and degrade her, Ge 24:65 So 5:7 1Co 11:5,10. The custom of wearing veils, however, has not been prevalent at all times. Sarah the wife of Abraham, and Rebekah and her companions at the well do not appear to have worn them, Ge 12:14,15 24:16. Compare also Ge 38:14,15 Pr 7:13. See ABIMELECH. Veil were of different kinds. Those now worn in Syria and Egypt may be divided into two classes, the one large and sometimes thick, the other small and of lighter materials. The usual indoor veil is of thin muslin, attached to the headdress, and falling over the back, sometimes to the feet. A similar veil is added to the front of the headdress on going abroad, partially covering the face and hanging low. The other veil, to be worn in the street, is a large mantle or sheet, of black silk, linen, or some coarse material, so ample as to envelope the whole person and dress, leaving but one of the eyes exposed, So 4:9. Such was the veil worn by Ru 3:15, translated "mantle" in Isa 3:22. Many women wear no other veil than this. The Greek word translated "power" in 1Co 11:10, probably means a veil, as a token of her husband’s rightful authority and her own subordination. This was to be worn in their Christian assemblies "because of the angels;" that is, because of the presence either of true angels, or of the officers of the church, who being unaccustomed to see the unveiled faces of women, might be distracted by them in the discharge of their public duties. For the "veil of the temple," see TABERNACLE and TEMPLE.

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VEIL. → Worn
* By Rebekah Ge 24:65
* By Tamar Ge 38:14,19
* By Moses, to screen his face when he descended from Mount Sinai Ex 34:33,35; 2Co 3:13-16

→ See DRESS → See WIMPLE

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veil. Veil, [vail] v.t. to cover, hide, conceal, invest

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Veil (?), n. [[OE. veile, OF. veile, F. voile, L. velum a sail, covering, curtain, veil, probably fr. vehere to bear, carry, and thus originally, that which bears the ship on. See Vehicle, and cf. Reveal.]] [Written also vail.] 1. 1. Something hung up, or spread out, to intercept the view, and hide an object; a cover; a curtain; esp., a screen, usually of gauze, crape, or similar diaphnous material, to hide or protect the face.
The veil of the temple was rent in twain. Matt. xxvii. 51. She, as a veil down to the slender waist, Her unadornéd golden tresses wore. Milton. 2. 2. A cover; a disguise; a mask; a pretense.
pluck the borrowed veil of modesty from the so seeming Mistress Page. Shak. 3. 3. (Bot.) (a) The calyptra of mosses. (b) A membrane connecting the margin of the pileus of a mushroom with the stalk; — called also velum.
4. 4. (Eccl.) A covering for a person or thing; as, a nun's veil; a paten veil; an altar veil.
5. 5. (Zoöl.) Same as Velum, 3.
To take the veil (Eccl.), to receive or be covered with, a veil, as a nun, in token of retirement from the world; to become a nun.