coverture noun. ['kʌvǝtjʊǝ] ME.
[Old French (mod. couverture), from covrir COVER verb² or late Latin coopertura (from ppl stem of Latin cooperire COVER verb²): see -URE.]
1. A bed-cover; a coverlet. ME-L17.

2. Clothing; a garment; a horse's trappings. ME-E17.

3. gen. (A) covering. Formerly also, a cover (of a dish, book, letter, etc.). LME.

4. An overhead covering; a canopy. Now rare. LME.

5. Protective covering; (a) shelter, (a) refuge. LME.
■ Spenser Agaynst his cruell scortching heate, Where hast thou couerture?

6. Concealing covering; (a) disguise. LME.
■ I. Barrow Shrowded under the coverture of other Persons and Names.
b. fig. Concealment; dissimulation, deceit. Now rare. LME.

7. A pretext, a pretence. LME-M16.

8. The legal status of a married woman (formerly as under the authority and protection of her husband); a woman's married state. Esp. in during the coverture, under coverture. M16.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲