Other forms: unveiled, unveiling, unveils
To unveil is to pull the cover off something new and show it to the world. Unveil a statue, unveil the plans, unveiled today.
The literal sense is a ceremony — a cloth over a plaque or a memorial, pulled away by somebody important. The figurative sense is the standard word in business and political reporting for any first public showing: unveil a strategy, unveil a new model. Note that the ceremony survives precisely because the metaphor keeps needing it.
1verbunveilTo pull the cover off something and show it publicly.
“The mayor unveiled the new statue in the town square.”
2verbannounceTo announce something publicly for the first time.
“The company will unveil its new phone at a press event next week.”
unveil is a first showing.
Also accepted in games: reveal
Un- plus veil, from Latin velum, a covering or sail. Reveal comes from the same velum, so revealing and unveiling are the same image twice.
Latin
velum
Middle English
*unveilen
English, today
unveil
Built from
From Middle English unveilen (suggested by past participle unveiled, vnueylyd (“unveiled”)). Equivalent to un- + veil. Ultimately from Latin velum (whence also English voile, English reveal, Russian вуа́ль, Russian завуали́ровать (compare typologically)). Also compare typologically uncloak, unmask, разобла́чать (akin to облаче́ние).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA