# covering

Pronunciation: say "KUV-ur-ing" /ˈkʌvəɹɪŋ/

## Noun

1. Something laid over, spread on, or wrapped around another thing to protect, hide, or enclose it.
   - Simple: A layer of material placed over something to protect it, hide it, or wrap it.
   - _A light covering of snow settled over the garden overnight._
   - _She pulled the protective covering off the new couch._
3. The act or process of placing something over, onto, or around another thing.
   - Simple: The act of putting a layer over or onto something.
   - _The covering of the entire stadium roof required several months of work._
   - _Proper covering of food keeps insects and dust away._
4. In topology, a map between two spaces under which, near each point, the source space looks locally like several separate copies of the target.
   - Simple: In advanced math, a special map that makes one shape look, up close, like several copies of another.
   - _The covering maps the real line onto the circle, wrapping it infinitely many times._
   - _Topologists classify each covering of a space by its fundamental group._
5. In topology, a collection of sets whose union contains a given set, sometimes required to consist of open sets or of subsets of that set.
   - Simple: In math, a group of sets that together include all of another set.
   - _The mathematician chose a finite covering of the interval using open sets._
   - _Every open covering of a compact space has a finite subcollection that still works._

## Verb

2. Present participle of cover. — present participle and gerund of cover
   - Simple: Present participle of cover. Use this form for something happening right now.
   - _Heavy clouds are covering the entire sky this afternoon._
   - _Volunteers are covering the seedlings to protect them from frost._

## Origin

**Meaning 2** — This is the present participle or participial adjective from the verb 'cover' plus '-ing', or from the Middle English participle form of 'coveren', 'keveren' ('to cover').
**Meanings 1, 3–5** — This comes from Middle English 'coverynge', 'keverynge', a verbal noun of 'coveren', 'keveren' ('to cover'), or is a verbal noun formed from the verb 'cover' plus '-ing'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/covering (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).