Etymology From Middle English cove, from Old English cofa (“chamber; den”), from Proto-West Germanic *kobō, from Proto-Germanic *kubô. Cognate with Dutch koof (“cove”), German Low German Koov (“small room”), German Koben (“nook, shed”), Icelandic kofi (“hut, shack”). This word has probably survived as long as it has due to its coincidental phonetic resemblance to the unrelated word English cave. Also unrelated to Spanish cueva, which itself is a cognate of cave.
Architecture A concave vault or archway, especially the arch of a ceiling.
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A small coastal inlet, especially one having high cliffs protecting vessels from prevailing winds; bight.
secret coves and noukes1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “(please specify the book number)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […], →OCLC:
There are several excellent snorkelling spots in the shallow coves around Chimei, and one-day tours (NT$1100 to NT$1300, including transport and food) can be arranged beforehand by your hotel or home-stay.2014, Robert Kelly, Chung Wah Chow, “Taiwan's Islands”, in Taiwan, 9th edition, Lonely Planet, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 307, column 2:
Cumbria A recess or sheltered area on the slopes of a mountain.
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Nautical, Transport The wooden roof of the stern gallery of an old sailing warship.
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Nautical, Transport A thin line, sometimes gilded, along a yacht's strake below deck level.
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Appalachia A valley between two ridges, especially one that, opening to the south and east, is protected by ridges on the north and west from common winter storm tracks.
They were, despite their ignorance, unavoidably prosperous since their farm occupied a wide piece of cove bottom with dirt so black and rich it would raise sweet potatoes as long as your arm[.]1997, Charles Frazier, chapter 2, in Cold Mountain, London: Hodder and Stoughton, page 53:
Etymology From Middle English cove, from Old English cofa (“chamber; den”), from Proto-West Germanic *kobō, from Proto-Germanic *kubô. Cognate with Dutch koof (“cove”), German Low German Koov (“small room”), German Koben (“nook, shed”), Icelandic kofi (“hut, shack”). This word has probably survived as long as it has due to its coincidental phonetic resemblance to the unrelated word English cave. Also unrelated to Spanish cueva, which itself is a cognate of cave.
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Architecture To arch over; to build in a hollow concave form; to make in the form of a cove.
The mosques and other buildings of the Arabians are rounded into domes and coved roofs.1779, Henry Swinburne, Travels through Spain:
cove
noun
Etymology Attested in Britain a. 1570, from Romani kodo (“this one, him”, pronounced KOTHO /koðo/, ultimately undergoing th-fronting to KOV /kov/ in English), or perhaps directly from Romani kova (“that person”).
Thieves' cant; particularly Lewis; thieves' cant; particularly Lewis
Don't call Major Pendennis an old cove, if you'll 'ave the goodness, Lightfoot, and don't call me an old cove, nether. Such words ain't used in society; and we have lived in the fust society, both at 'ome and foring.1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
He was lying back in an arm-chair with his mouth open and a sort of goofy expression in his eyes, while a grey-bearded cove in the middle distance watched him with so much dislike that I concluded that Bingo had pinched his favourite seat.1923 May 17, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “Bingo and the Little Woman”, in The Inimitable Jeeves, Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1979, →ISBN, page 203:
1 more example
At one point, a friendly-looking sort of cove with silver hair and a grandfatherly kind of face beamed at him […]2012, Terry Pratchett, Dodger, →ISBN, page 326:
Etymology Borrowed from French couver, from Old French cover (“to hatch (eggs)”), from Latin cubāre (“to lie down, recline; to incubate; to be broody”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb- (“to lie down”). Cognates * Italian covare
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Ambitransitive, Obsolete Of a bird or other animal: to brood, cover, incubate, or sit over (eggs).
Moreover, the provident care of the tortoiſe in the generation, nouriſhment and preſervation of [h]er yooung, is vvoonderfull: for out ſhe goeth of the ſea, and laieth her egges or caſteth her ſpavvne upon the banke ſide; but being not able to cove or ſit upon them, nor to remaine herſelfe upon the land out of the ſea any long time, ſhe beſtovveth them in the gravell, and aftervvards covereth them vvith the lighteſt and fineſt ſand ſhe can get: […]1603, Plutarch, “Whether Creatures be more Wise, They of the Land, or Those of the Water”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield, →OCLC, page 976: