cove (n.) early 14c., "den, cave, gollow nook," from Old English cofa "small chamber, cell," from Proto-Germanic kubon (compare Old High German kubisi "tent, hut," German Koben "pigsty," Old Norse kofi "hut, shed"). Extension of meaning to "small bay, inlet, or creek" is from 1580s, apparently via Scottish dialectal meaning "small hollow place in coastal rocks" (a survival of an Old English secondary sense). Also in early Middle English, "chamber, closet, pantry".