noun · femininefirst declension
umbra
umbra f (genitive umbrae)
Classical[ˈʊm.bra]Ecclesiastical[ˈum.bra]
№ 257 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- feminineshadow
- broadlyfemininefigurativelyshade, shady place, shadowy place
nudus Arboris Othrys erat nec habebat Pelion umbras
Mount Othrys is devoid of trees; Mount Pelion does not have shade8 CE, Ovidius, Metamorphoses 12.513Umbra loco deerat: qua postquam parte resedit dis genitus vates et fila sonantia movit, umbra loco venit.
There was no shade there; but, when the poet—born of the god—sat down and moved the strings of his lyre, shade came to that spot.8 CE, Ovidius, Metamorphoses 10.88-90 - feminineshade, ghost, phantom, apparition
- femininepluralthe realm of shades, the shades, the world below or underworld
[...] vel Pater omnipotēns adigat mē fulmine ad umbrās, pallentīs umbrās Erebī noctemque profundam, [...].
“… or the Father almighty hurl me with his thunderbolt to the shades, the pallid shades and boundless night of Erebus ….” (That is, the Underworld, or land of the dead. The repetition is an example of epanalepsis.)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.25-26 - feminineimperfect copy or representation of something, pretence, faint appearance
in eo te umbram luxuriae reperturum putas?
You think you shall find even a shadow of luxury in that man?63 BCE, Cicero, Pro Murena 6.13 - feminineshelter, cover
- feminineleisure, rest
- femininedrumfish
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
locus sine sōle post corpus; in sōlis viā umbra columnae parvae hōram mōnstrat.umbra -ae f — in Mille Verba, Tempus et Numerī
locus sōle carēnsumbra -ae (f) — in Evangelium secundum Marcum, ch. 6
locus sine sōle; etiam anima mortuīumbra -ae (f) — in Metamorphoses I, †
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | umbra | umbrae |
| genitive | umbrae | umbrārum |
| dative | umbrae | umbrīs |
| accusative | umbram | umbrās |
| ablative | umbrā | umbrīs |
| vocative | umbra | umbrae |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- desudare in scholae umbra or umbraculis
- to exert oneself in the schools.
umbra, ae, f. etym. dub.; Curt. compares Sanscr. ambara, an encircling,
I. a shade, shadow.
I. Lit.:
cum usque quaque umbra est, tamen Sol semper hic est, Plaut. Most. 3, 2, 79: illa platanus, cujus umbram secutus est Socrates, Cic. de Or. 1, 7, 28: fiebat, ut incideret luna in eam metam, quae esset umbra terrae, etc., id. Rep. 1, 14, 22; cf. id. Div. 2, 6, 17: colles ... afferunt umbram vallibus, id. Rep. 2, 6, 11: nox Involvens umbrā magnā terramque polumque, Verg. A. 2, 251: spissis noctis se condidit umbris, id. ib. 2, 621: majoresque cadunt altis de montibus umbrae, id. E. 1, 84; 5, 70: pampineae, id. ib. 7, 58: certum est mihi, quasi umbra, quoquo ibis tu, te persequi, Plaut. Cas. 1, 4; cf. id. Most. 3, 2, 82.—Prov.: umbras timere, to be afraid of shadows, i. e. to fear without cause, Cic. Att. 15, 20, 4: umbram suam metuere, Q. Cic. Petit. Cons. 2, 9: ipse meas solus, quod nil est, aemulor umbras, Prop. 2, 34 (3, 32), 19.—B. Transf.
1. In painting, the dark part of a painting, shade, shadow:
quam multa vident pictores in umbris et in eminentiā, quae nos non videmus! Cic. Ac. 2, 7, 20; so (opp. lumen) Plin. 35, 5, 11, § 29; 35, 11, 40, § 131; 33, 3, 57, § 163.—2. A shade, ghost of a dead person (poet. and in post-Aug. prose; cf.:
Manes, Lemures): nos ubi decidimus, Quo dives Tullus et Ancus, Pulvis et umbra sumus, Hor. C. 4, 7, 16: ne forte animas Acherunte reamur Effugere aut umbras inter vivos volitare, Lucr. 4, 38; cf.: cornea (porta), quā veris facilis datur exitus umbris, Verg. A. 6, 894; Tib. 3, 2, 9; Verg. A. 5, 734; Hor. C. 2, 13, 30; id. S. 1, 8, 41; Plin. 30, 2, 6, § 18; Suet. Calig. 59 al.: Umbrarum rex, i. e. Pluto, Ov. M. 7, 249; so, dominus, id. ib. 10, 16.— In the plur. umbrae, of a single dead person: matris agitabitur umbris, Ov. M. 9, 410; 8, 476; 6, 541; Verg. A. 6, 510; 10, 519 al.—3. Like the Greek σκιά, an uninvited guest, whom an invited one brings with him (cf. parasitus), Hor. S. 2, 8, 22; id. Ep. 1, 5, 28; Plaut. Pers. 2, 4, 27; so, of an attendant:
luxuriae, Cic. Mur. 6, 13.—4. A shade, shady place, that which gives a shade or shadow (as a tree, house, tent, etc; poet.);
of trees: nudus Arboris Othrys erat nec habebat Pelion umbras, Ov. M. 12, 513; so id. ib. 10, 88; 10, 90; 14, 447; Verg. G. 1, 157, id. E. 9, 20; 5, 5; Sil. 4, 681: Pompeiā spatiabere cultus in umbrā, i. e. in the Pompeian portico, Prop. 4 (5), 8, 75. so, Pompeia, Ov. A. A. 1, 67; 3, 387: vacuā tonsoris in umbrā, in the cool barber's shop, Hor. Ep. 1, 7, 50: studia in umbrā educata, in the closet, study, Tac. A. 14, 53; cf.: rhetorica, i. e. the rhetorician's school, Juv. 7, 173: dum roseis venit umbra genis, i. e. down, beard, Stat. Th. 4, 336; cf.: dubia lanuginis, Claud. Nupt. Pall. et Celer. 42: nunc umbra nudata sua jam tempora moerent, i. e. of hair, Petr. poët. 109: summae cassidis umbra, i. e. the plume or crest, Stat. Th. 6, 226: sed non erat illi Arcus et ex umeris nullae fulgentibus umbrae, i. e. quivers, id. S. 3, 4, 30.—5. A fish, called also sciaena; a grayling, umber: Salmo thymallus, Linn.; Enn. ap. App. Mag. p. 299 (Heduph. v. 7 Vahl.); Varr. L. L. 5, § 77 Müll.; Ov. Hal. 111; Col. 8, 16, 8; Aus. Idyll. 10, 90.—
II. Trop., like the Engl. shadow or shade.
A. Opp. to substance or reality, a trace, obscure sign or image, faint appearance, imperfect copy or representation, semblance, pretence (cf. simulacrum):
veri juris germanaeque justitiae solidam et expressam effigiem nullam tenemus, umbrā et imaginibus utimur, Cic. Off. 3, 17, 69: umbra et imago civitatis, id. Rep. 2, 30, 53: umbra et imago equitis Romani, id. Rab. Post. 15, 41: o hominem amentem et miserum, qui ne umbram quidem umquam τοῦ καλοῦ viderit! id. Att. 7, 11, 1: in quo ipsam luxuriam reperire non potes, in eo te umbram luxuriae reperturum putas? id. Mur. 6, 13: in comoediā maxime claudicamus ... vix levem consequimur umbram, Quint. 10, 1, 100: sub umbrā foederis aequi servitutem pati, Liv. 8, 4, 2: umbras falsae gloriae consectari, Cic. Pis. 24, 57: umbra es amantum magis quam amator, Plaut. Mil. 3, 1, 31: mendax pietatis umbra, Ov. M. 9, 459: libertatis, Luc. 3, 146: belli, Sil. 15, 316: umbras quasdam veritatis habere, Plin. 30, 2, 6, § 17; Claud. Laud. Stil. 1, 273.—B. Shelter, cover, protection:
umbra et recessus, Cic. de Or. 3, 26, 101: umbrā magni nominis delitescunt, Quint. 12, 10, 15: umbra vestri auxilii tegi possumus, Liv. 7, 30, 18: sub umbrā auxilii vestri latere volunt, id. 32, 21, 31: sub umbrā Romanae amicitiae latebant, id. 34, 9, 10: morum vitia sub umbrā eloquentiae primo latebant, Just. 5, 2, 7.—Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
umbra ae, f
a shade, shadow: terrae: colles . . . adferunt umbram vallibus: noctis se condidit umbris, V.: pampineae, of vines, V.: Falce premes umbram, i. e. prune the foliage, V.—Prov.: qui umbras timet, is afraid of shadows.—A shaded place, place protected from the sun, shade: Umbra loco deerat, i. e. trees, O.: Pompeiā spatiere sub umbrā, in the Pompeian portico, O.: vacuā tonsoris in umbrā, in the cool barber's shop, H.: rhetorica, i. e. the rhetorician's school, Iu.—In painting, a dark place, shade, shadow: quam multa vident pictores in umbris et in eminentiā.—Of the dead, a shade, ghost: Pulvis et umbra sumus, H.: Cornea (porta), quā veris facilis datur exitus umbris, V.: Umbrarum rex, i. e. Pluto, O.: matris agitabitur umbris, O.—A shadow, attendant, companion: cum Servilio Vibidius, quas Maecenas adduxerat umbras, H.—A grayling, umber (a fish): corporis umbrae Liventis, O.—Fig., a shadow, trace, image, appearance, outline, semblance, pretence, pretext: civitatis: umbras falsae gloriae consectari: umbrae hominum, fame frigore evecti, L.: Mendax pietatis, O.—A shelter, cover, protection: umbra et recessus: sub umbrā vestri auxilii latere, L.—Rest, leisure: docere in umbrā atque otio: ignava Veneris, O.: cedat umbra soli, i. e. repose to exertion.
Origins
Generally connected with Lithuanian unksna (“shade”), from Proto-Indo-European *wnksrā-. This term is tentatively derived from Proto-Indo-European *(H)wenk- (“to bend”); however, the semantic leaps required to go from "bend" to "shade" are large and unlikely. Alternatively, if from Old Latin *omra, possibly from a Proto-Indo-European *h₂mr-u-, *h₂mrup-; related to Ancient Greek ἀμαυρός (amaurós, “dark”), Luwian 𒈠𒅈𒉿𒄿𒀀 (“rot”), and 𒈠𒊒𒉿𒄿 (“rotten”) (also see Hittite Maraššantiya, their name for the Kızılırmak River), and this Indo-European source is said to be a possible borrowing from a Semitic root *ḥ-m-r (“be red”), compare Arabic ح م ر (ḥ m r).
Descendants
- Frenchsombrefrom Vulgar Latin *subumbrāre
- Portuguesesombrafrom Vulgar Latin *subumbrāre
- Spanishsombrafrom Vulgar Latin *subumbrāre
- Englishumbra
- Frenchombre
- Italianombra
- Catalanombrafrom Old Occitan ombra
- Occitanombrafrom Old Occitan ombra
- Romanianumbră
- Sardinianumbara
In English words that came into English from umbra
- umbrellaumbrella
- sombreumbra
- penumbrapēnumbra
- umbraumbra
- umbrageumbrāticus
- umberumbra
- umbelumbella
- adumbrateadumbrātus
- umbellicumbella
- umbrineumbra
- umbratileumbratilis
- umbrisolumbra
- umbriferousumbrifer
- umbrelumbra
- umbraculiferousumbraculum
- umbroseumbrōsus
- umbraculiformumbraculum