covertures

Noun

coverture (countable and uncountable, plural covertures)

1. Concealing cover, disguise, veil; (also figurative).
2. (historical) A common law doctrine developed in England during the Middle Ages, whereby a woman's legal existence, upon marriage, was subsumed by that of her husband, particularly with regard to ownership of property and protection.
   • Note that voting by widows did not raise some of the concerns that might have arisen from voting by wives subject to common-law coverture servitude to their husbands.2006, Akhil Reed Amar, America's Constitution: A Biography
3. Shelter, hiding place.
   • URSULA. The pleasant'st angling is to see the fish
     Cut with her golden oars the silver stream,
     And greedily devour the treacherous bait:
     So angle we for Beatrice; who even now
     Is couched in the woodbine coverture.1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...