shadow

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈʃæd.əʊ/, US /ˈʃæd.oʊ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English schadewe, shadwe, inherited from Old English sceadwe, sceaduwe, the oblique case forms of sceadu “shade”,^[2][3][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *skaðwaz, the source also of Dutch schaduw, German Schatten and Gothic skadus.^[5][2] Hoad compares Greek skótos “darkness” and Old Irish scáth “shadow”.^[5] Shadow is to shade as meadow is to mead.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Shadow of death, a biblical expression: before 900 in the OED.^[6] Shade, partial darkness caused by something blocking the light, is from before 1220 in the OED, probably before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle in Barnhart.^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

“Anything unreal” is from the early 13th century, and a ghost from the mid-14th.^[2] The darkness of night is from 1382.^[6] Many senses come from the idea of something that follows or attends a person.^[2] A foreshadowing or prefiguration is from the late 14th century,^[2] the darker part of a picture from 1486,^[6] the faintest trace from the 1580s, an imitation from the 1690s, and a spy who follows someone from 1859.^[2] Gloom or unhappiness, as a figurative shadow, is from 1855,^[6] Jung's dark side of the personality from 1923,^[6] and eye shadow from 1936.^[6] The verb, to shade or protect from light, is from about 1000 in Old English sceadwian,^[3][4] to cast a shadow over from the late 14th century, and to follow like a shadow once about 1600 and then again from 1872.^[2]

Timeline

• a. 900 – shadow of death.^[6]
• a. 1220 – shade, darkness.^[6]
• mid-14th century – a ghost.^[2]
• 1486 – in painting.^[6]
• 1580s – the faintest trace.^[2]
• 1859 – a spy who follows.^[2]
• 1872 – verb, to follow secretly.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A dark shape cast on a surface by something that blocks the light.
2. An area of partial darkness; shade.
3. A very small amount: beyond a shadow of a doubt.
4. A feeling of sadness or a threat: cast a shadow over.
5. Someone who follows another person closely.

Verb

1. To follow someone secretly and closely.
2. To cast a shadow over something.

Adjective

1. Relating to a shadow cabinet, the opposition's team of leaders: shadow minister.

Word family

• shadower
• shadowless
• shadowlike
• foreshadow
• overshadow

Related words

• scoto-
• shade
• shadowy

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press