reveal

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From French révéler, from earlier Latin revelare (“to reveal, uncover”), from re- (“back, again”) + velare (“to cover”), from velum (“veil”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ɹəˈviːl/, X-SAMPA: /r@"vi:l/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːl

Noun

reveal (plural reveals)

1. The outer side of a window or door frame; the jamb.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Carter B. Horsley, The Upper East Side Book:

     The building has a one-story rusticated limestone base and a canopied entrance with a doorman beneath an attractive, rusticated limestone window reveal on the second floor and a very impressive and ornate limestone window reveal on the third floor flanked by female figures.

2. (cinematography, comedy) A revelation; an uncovering of what was hidden.

   The comedian had been telling us about his sleep being disturbed by noise. Then came the reveal: he was sleeping on a bed in a department store.

3. (obsolete) The side of an opening for a window, doorway, or the like, between the door frame or window frame and the outer surface of the wall; or, where the opening is not filled with a door, etc., the whole thickness of the wall; the jamb.

Synonyms

• (side of a window or door opening): revel

Quotations

• 2001, Nicholas Proferes, Film Directing Fundamentals [1]

  The reveal is a narrative/dramatic element so pervasive that its power can be underestimated by the beginning filmmaker because, in a sense, each shot reveals something.

• 2002, Blain Brown, Cinematography [2]

  A simple dolly or crane move can be used for an effective reveal. A subject fills the frame, then with a move, something else is revealed.

• 2004, Fred Karlin, On the Track [3]

  Look for the reveal of the ghosts hanging in the school hallway (00:57:27); [...]

Verb

reveal (third-person singular simple present reveals, present participle revealing, simple past and past participle revealed)

1. (transitive) To uncover; to show and display that which was hidden.
2. (transitive) To communicate that which could not be known or discovered without divine or supernatural instruction.

Synonyms

communicate disclose discover

divulge impart open

show uncover unveil

Related terms

• revelation

Translations

to uncover

• Arabic: كشف (ar) (kášafa)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 透露 (cmn) (tòulù), 顯示 (cmn), 显示 (cmn) (xiǎnshì)

• Czech: odhalit (cs)
• Danish: afsløre (da)
• Dutch: onthullen (nl)
• Esperanto: malkaŝi (eo)
• Estonian: paljastama (et)
• Finnish: paljastaa (fi)
• French: révéler (fr)
• German: enthüllen (de)
• Greek: αποκαλύπτω (el) (apokalýpto)
• Hebrew: גילה (he) (gilá), חשף (he) (khasáf)
• Italian: rivelare (it)
• Japanese: 現す (ja) (あらわす, arawasu), 表す (ja) (あらわす, arawasu), 表わす (ja) (あらわす, arawasu)

• Korean: 나타내다 (ko) (natanaeda)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: ده‌رخستن (ku) (derxistin)

• Latin: acclārō (la), patefacio (la)
• Norwegian: avsløre (no)
• Polish: odkrywać (pl), odsłaniać (pl), ujawniać (pl)
• Portuguese: revelar (pt)
• Russian: выявлять (ru) (vyjavljátʹ) impf., раскрывать (ru) (raskryvátʹ) impf., показывать (ru) (pokázyvatʹ) impf.
• Spanish: revelar (es), propalar (es)
• Swahili: dhihirisha (sw)
• Swedish: uppenbara (sv)
• Telugu: వెల్లడించు (vellaDiMchu)
• Turkish: açığa vurmak (tr)

Anagrams

• leaver