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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."
Examples of umbra in a Sentence
Mohammed Soliman, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Apr. 2025
Totality occurs at 2:26 a.m. EDT when the entire moon is under the umbra.
—Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 11 Mar. 2025
Fourth contact is when the leading edge passes out of the umbra and becomes easily visible again, ending totality, and fifth contact is when the entire moon is fully out of the umbra.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 6 Mar. 2025
In a total eclipse, the moon passes through Earth’s umbra, the darkest part of our planet’s shadow.
—Margherita Bassi, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for umbra
Cite this Entry
“Umbra.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/umbra. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
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