shroud

 
Pronunciation: /ʃraʊd/

noun

  • 1a length of cloth or an enveloping garment in which a dead person is wrapped for burial: he was buried in a linen shroud
  • technical a protective casing or cover: the trigger shroud prevents snagging on clothing
  • 2a thing that envelops or obscures something: a shroud of mist they operate behind a shroud of secrecy
  • 3 (shrouds) a set of ropes forming part of the standing rigging of a sailing boat and supporting the mast or topmast.
  • (also shroud line) each of the lines joining the canopy of a parachute to the harness.

verb

[with object]
  • 1wrap or dress (a body) in a shroud for burial: the body was washed and shrouded
  • 2cover or envelop so as to conceal from view: mountains shrouded by cloud the mystery which shrouds the origins of the universe

Origin:

late Old English scrūd 'garment, clothing', of Germanic origin, from a base meaning 'cut'; related to shred. An early sense of the verb (Middle English) was 'cover so as to protect'