Etymologically
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eclipse

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Pronunciation

  • /ɪˈklɪps/, /iˈklɪps/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English eclipse (also clips),[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French eclipse,[5][6][7][8] a learned borrowing[6] from Latin eclīpsis, from Ancient Greek ἔκλειψις (ékleipsis, “a failing, a forsaking; an eclipse”),[5][6][9] from ἐκλείπω (ekleípō, “to forsake its usual place, fail to appear”),[6][7] formed from ἐκ (ek, “out”) and λείπω (leípō, “to leave”),[5][9][8] from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave”).[5][9] Klein relates the Greek verb to Latin linquō (“to leave”).[10] The noun is recorded in Anglo-Norman from the early 12th century.[11] The verb was formed from the noun in English,[7][12][6] though Etymonline and the Oxford Dictionary of English derive it from eclipser.[5][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The darkening of the sun or moon by another body: about 1300, in the South English Legendary, where learned men cannot explain an eclipse.[2] Barnhart dates both noun and verb to about 1280,[6] and the OED's first quotation is Chaucer's translation of Boethius, about 1374.[7]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense, a loss of brilliance or standing, appears about 1385 according to Barnhart[6] and in 1598 in the OED.[7] In Middle English the verb was also intransitive, "to suffer an eclipse", a use that ended in 1667.[7][5] Its figurative transitive use, to overshadow or obscure, is dated before 1387 by Barnhart, to the 1570s by Etymonline and to 1581 by the OED,[6][5][7] and by 1718 it meant to outshine or surpass.[7] Johnson (1755) remarked that the word originally signified a departure from one's place, to which Milton alludes.[14] Weekley recalls Johnson's line on Garrick, whose death "eclipsed the gaiety of nations".[15] Later technical senses include the intermittent darkening of a lighthouse's light[7] and, in Irish and Gaelic grammar from 1602, the change of an initial consonant.[7] Chaucer and Gower each use the noun twice.[16]

Timeline

  • early 12th century – Anglo-Norman eclipse.[11]
  • c. 1280 – noun and verb, in Barnhart.[6]
  • c. 1300 – the noun (South English Legendary).[2]
  • c. 1374 – the noun in Chaucer.[7]
  • c. 1385 – figurative, loss of brilliance (Barnhart);[6] 1598 (OED).[7]
  • 1393 – intransitive verb, to be eclipsed (Gower; until 1667).[7]
  • 1581 – to overshadow, obscure.[7]
  • 1718 – to outshine, surpass.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The hiding of the light of a celestial body by another one passing in front of it, or by its passing into another's shadow, as when the moon blocks the sun.
  2. Any dimming or cutting off of light.
  3. A loss of fame, power or importance: a party in eclipse after its defeat.

Verb

  1. To cause an eclipse of; to block the light of.
  2. To make someone or something seem less important by comparison; outshine or surpass.

Word family

  • eclipser
  • uneclipsed
  • annular eclipse
  • lunar eclipse
  • solar eclipse
  • eclipse plumage

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  11. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  12. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  13. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  15. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  16. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme