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Glite Dictionary
covering letter

covering letter

2.7
A short letter that you send with other documents to explain them
  • noun
  • /ˈkʌvərɪŋ ˈlɛtər/
  • UK
translation icon : carta de presentación
  • Before submitting the proposal, he wrote a covering letter to outline the key points.

Examples

  • My covering letter said that the memorandum was only a draft, and that I would be "glad to know of any point in which you think it is mistaken."

    Academic text (1994)

  • She included a detailed covering letter with her job application to explain her qualifications.

  • The covering letter accompanied the documents required for the visa application.

Synonyms

cover letter
vscovering letter
  • Formal
16 3.5

A short letter you send with a job application to introduce yourself and say why you fit the job

is used more generally to add information or explain accompanying documents

Surface Forms

covering letter singular
covering letters plural

Morphology

covering + letter

The sense 'a letter sent with other documents' follows directly from combining 'covering' (functionally 'that covers or accompanies') with 'letter' — i.e. a letter that accompanies/“covers” other papers. This compositional, descriptive relation is common in English (and found in many languages), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

The noun covering letter may come from the image of a covering sheet that sits on top of other papers, while the letter explains what is inside. That's why it means 'a letter sent with other documents to give extra information'.