Noun
an eclipse of the sun
The popularity of television led to the eclipse of the radio drama.
an artist whose reputation has long been in eclipseVerb
The sun was partially eclipsed by the moon.
Train travel was eclipsed by the growth of commercial airlines.
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Noun
Check my main feed for more in-depth articles on stargazing, astronomy, eclipses and more.—Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 7 July 2025 Small wonder that from prehistory on people have worked out ways to predict eclipses and that one of the functions of Stonehenge is to act as a gigantic eclipse computer.—David Szondy
june 28, New Atlas, 28 June 2025
Verb
According to Baseball Almanac, only three American League catchers have eclipsed Heineman’s three errors by committing four in a single game — all before 1930.—Sacbee.com, 13 July 2025 With his two homers on Saturday against the Angels, Suarez has now eclipsed 30 home runs in six of the last seven full seasons he's played in.—Andrew Wright, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for eclipse
Word History
Etymology
Noun
borrowed from Middle English eclipse, clips, borrowed from Anglo-French eclyps, eclypse, borrowed from Latin eclīpsis, borrowed from Greek ékleipsis "abandonment, failure, cessation, obscuring of a celestial body by another," from ekleípein "to leave out, abandon, cease, die, be obscured (of a celestial body)" (from ek-ec- + leípein "to leave, quit, be missing") + -sis-sis — more at delinquent entry 2
Verb
Middle English eclypsen, clypsen, derivative of eclipseeclipse entry 1, probably after Medieval Latin eclīpsāre or Middle French esclipser
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