envelope

envelope
\ \ [18] English borrowed envelope from French enveloppe in the sense ‘wrapper’, and more specifically ‘cover for a letter’, at the start of the 18th century. It was a derivative of the verb envelopper ‘wrap’, whose ancestor, envoloper, gave English envelop in the 14th century. As in the case of its first cousin develop, the origin of the verb remains a mystery. It is a compound formed from the prefix en- ‘in’ and voloper ‘wrap’, but the source of voloper has never been satisfactorily explained. It may come from a hypothetical Celtic base *vol- ‘roll’, but an equally good candidate is late Latin *faluppa ‘husk’, from which come Italian viluppo ‘bundle’ and viluppare ‘wrap’.
\ \ Cf.⇒ DEVELOP

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую
Synonyms:
, , , / (to cover a weak part) /


Look at other dictionaries:

  • envelope — en‧ve‧lope [ˈenvələʊp ǁ loʊp] noun [countable] a thin paper cover in which you put a letter ˌpadded ˈenvelope an envelope filled with soft material that is used for sending things which can easily be damaged ˌself adˌdressed ˈenvelope written… …   Financial and business terms

  • Envelope — En vel*ope (?; 277), Envelop En*vel op (?; 277), n. [F. enveloppe.] 1. That which envelops, wraps up, encases, or surrounds; a wrapper; an inclosing cover; esp., the cover or wrapper of a document, as of a letter. [1913 Webster] 2. (Astron.) The… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • envelope — ► NOUN 1) a flat paper container with a sealable flap, used to enclose a letter or document. 2) a covering or containing structure or layer. 3) the outer housing of a vacuum tube, electric light, etc. 4) the structure within a balloon or non… …   English terms dictionary

  • envelope — [än′və lōp΄, en′′və lōp΄] n. [Fr & OFr enveloppe < OFr envoluper: see ENVELOP] 1. a thing that envelops; wrapper; covering 2. a folded paper container as for a letter, usually with a gummed flap for sealing 3. a) the outer covering of a rigid… …   English World dictionary

  • Envelope —   [engl.], Hüllkurve …   Universal-Lexikon

  • envelope — 1705, from Fr. enveloppe (13c.), a back formation from envelopper to envelop (see ENVELOP (Cf. envelop)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • envelope — s. m. Envoltório para cartas ou outros documentos ou papéis. = SOBRECARTA, SOBRESCRITO   ‣ Etimologia: francês enveloppe …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

  • envelope — [n] wrapper bag, box, case, casing, cloak, coat, coating, container, cover, covering, enclosure, hide, jacket, pocket, pouch, receptacle, sheath, shell, skin, vesicle, wrapping; concept 494 …   New thesaurus

  • Envelope — This article is about envelopes in packaging. For other uses, see Envelope (disambiguation). Front of an envelope mailed in the U.S. in 1906, with a postage stamp and address …   Wikipedia

  • envelope — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ bulky, fat, thick ▪ large, small ▪ sealed ▪ return (AmE), self addressed …   Collocations dictionary

  • envelope — n. 1) to address; seal an envelope 2) a pay envelope (AE; BE has pay packet) 3) a self addressed; stamped; window envelope USAGE NOTE: AE has stamped self addressed envelope; BE has stamped addressed envelope. * * * [ envələʊp] seal an envelope… …   Combinatory dictionary

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