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The Latin word umbra ("shade, shadow") has given English a range of words in addition to umbra itself. An umbrella can provide us with shade from the sun. So can an umbrageous tree. (In this case, umbrageous means "affording shade.") The connection to shade or shadow in other umbra words is less obvious. When we say someone takes umbrage, we mean they take offense, but in times past people used the word as a synonym of shade or shadow. These two senses of umbrage influenced umbrageous, which can mean "inclined to take offense easily" as well as "affording shade."
Synonyms
Examples of umbra in a Sentence
Sarah Maddox, CBS News, 9 Apr. 2024
The first jet will then break off to the Northeast as the eclipse approaches and will try to lock its camera onto the 118-mile-wide umbra.
—Maura Barrett, NBC News, 8 Apr. 2024
These localities will be located directly in the umbra of the eclipse and, therefore, their inhabitants will perceive it as total.
—Geraldine Castro, WIRED, 6 Apr. 2024
Ideally, your goal should be to stand beneath the Moon’s darker, inner shadow — the umbra.
—Michael E. Bakich, Discover Magazine, 22 Jan. 2024
According to National Geographic, a solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, creating a shadow on our planet called an umbra.
—Marina Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 1 Apr. 2024
When the moon moves into the inner part of Earth's shadow, or umbra, according to NASA, some of the sunlight entering Earth's skies scatters before reaching the moon's surface.
—The Indianapolis Star, 6 Mar. 2024
Mexican Central Daylight Time, the umbra arrives at Nazas.
—Michael E. Bakich, Discover Magazine, 4 Mar. 2024
This full moon is also a partial lunar eclipse, according to the experts at NASA, an imperfect alignment of the sun, Earth and moon that results in the moon passing through only part of Earth's umbra.
—The Indianapolis Star, 6 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'umbra.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near umbra
Cite this Entry
“Umbra.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/umbra. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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