The Greek verb anakaluptō (ἀνακαλύπτω) means "to unveil" or "to uncover" — the opposite of covering with a veil. From ana (back, up) + kaluptō (to cover), it describes the removal of a covering to reveal what is beneath. The word appears twice in 2 Corinthians 3, where Paul develops an extended metaphor contrasting the veiled reading of the Old Covenant with the unveiled seeing of the New.
Paul's use of anakaluptō in 2 Corinthians 3:14,18 is central to his theology of revelation and transformation. The veil that lies over Israel's heart in reading the Old Covenant is only removed "through Christ" (v.14) — not through effort or insight but through encounter with the Messiah who fulfills what the veil concealed. Then, with "unveiled face [anakekalummenō prosōpō]" (v.18), believers "behold the glory of the Lord" and are transformed into that same image "from one degree of glory to another." The unveiled face that sees God's glory is itself being transformed into that glory — anakaluptō is both revelatory (removing ignorance) and transformative (initiating glory).