غِطَاءٌ

A cover, or covering; i. e. a thing by which, or with which, a thing or person is covered, or concealed: (Msb, K: *) or a thing by which or with which, thou art covered, or coverest thyself: (S:) or a thing by which, or with which, thou art covered or another thing is covered: so in the M: according to Er-Rághib, a thing that is put upon, or over, a thing, such as a طَبَق [meaning cover, or lid,] and the like thereof, like as the غِشَاء is of clothing and the like thereof; (TA:) or the cover, or lid. of a cooking-pot or the like: (MA:) plural أُغْطِيَةٌ: (Msb, TA;) it is [said to be] from the phrase غَطَىِ اللَّيْلُ. (Msb.)

And it is metaphorically applied to denote (tropical:) Ignorance: whence [according to some] the saying in the Qur'an, 50:21, فَكَشَفْنَا عَنْكَ غِطَاءَكَ فَبَصَرُكَ الْيَوْمَ حَدِيدٌ (tropical:) [But we have removed from thee thine ignorance; and thy sight, or thy mental perception, to-day, is sharp, or piercing: see حَدِيدٌ]. (TA.)