ombra

Forms

ombra f (plural ombre)^[1] Old forms include ónbra and umbra.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin umbra (“shadow, shade”).^[3][4][5][1] The word is found in almost all the Romance languages: French ombre, Occitan ombra, Catalan ombra, Sardinian umbra and Romanian umbră, while Spanish sombra and Portuguese sombra have an added ⟨s-⟩, which Körting explains as ⟨sub⟩ + ⟨umbra⟩.^[4][6][7]

The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^[3][8] De Vaan and the OLD connect it with Lithuanian ùnksna (“shade”) through a form Proto-Italic *unksrā-, whose consonant cluster would have become ⟨-mbr-⟩, but find no convincing root.^[8][9] DEI, Devoto and Nocentini compare instead Sanskrit अन्ध (andha, “blind”) and Vedic “darkness”, with the suffix of Latin tenebrae (“darkness”).^[10][11][4] Wiktionary also cites an older Latin *omra from a Proto-Indo-European *h₂mr-u-, akin to Ancient Greek ἀμαυρός (amaurós, “dark”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the 13th-century poet Maestro Rinuccino, for the lessening of light behind an opaque body;^[3] umbra for a place sheltered from the sun is also 13th-century, and ombra in that sense appears before 1292 in Bono Giamboni.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already had most of the modern range: the shadow cast by a body and the souls of the dead in Dante (1300–1313), protection (before 1321), a mere semblance and a tiny amount (Giamboni, Bencivenni), and something unclear that causes suspicion (Dante, 1304–1308).^[3] Cennino Cennini, around 1400, used it for the shading in a painting.^[3]

Painting also gave the colour terra d'ombra (before 1574), umber, which French took over as terre d'ombre in 1562.^[12] Modern politics took the governo ombra from English shadow cabinet.^[3] In Venice and the Veneto un'ombra is a small glass of wine, an extension of the sense “small quantity”.^[13][5][1] Aver paura della propria ombra is found in all the Romance languages and has an exact Latin model, umbram suam timere.^[3]

Timeline

• 13th century – Maestro Rinuccino uses ombra.^[3]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for a shaded place and for a vain semblance.^[3]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for a cast shadow and for a ghost.^[3]
• Around 1400 – Cennino Cennini uses it for shading in painting.^[3]
• Before 1574 – terra d'ombra names the pigment umber.^[12]
• 1942 – ombretto, eyeshadow, is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. shade: the darker area where an opaque body blocks direct light, especially sunlight: Ci siamo riposati all'ombra di un platano.^[5][14][15]
2. The unlit side of a body; in painting or photography, the darker tones: il gioco di luci e ombre.^[5]
3. Darkness: Il ladro sparì nell'ombra del vicolo..^[5][15]
4. A shadow, the outline cast on a surface: L'ombra del campanile si allungava sulla piazza.^[5][15]
5. A dim, indistinct figure: Vidi un'ombra muoversi nel giardino.^[5][15]
6. A faint stain or mark.^[5][15]
7. The spirit of a dead person, a ghost: il regno delle ombre.^[5][15]
8. (figurative) Something empty or fleeting; a hint of a feeling; a tiny amount, especially in negative sentences: Non c'è ombra di dubbio.^[5][14]
9. (figurative) A worry or suspicion, or what causes it: un'ombra sul loro passato.^[5][14]
10. (regional, Veneto) A small glass of wine.^[5][13][1]

Word family

• ombreggiare
• ombretto
• ombrello
• ombrellone
• ombrina
• ombroso
• adombrare
• penombra
• ombrare
• ombreggiatura

Related words

• umbratico
• umbratile
• Latin umbra
• French ombre

Usage notes

Fixed phrases include all'ombra di (under the protection of), fare ombra (to overshadow), nell'ombra (in secret), essere l'ombra di sé stesso (to be a shadow of one's former self) and governo ombra (shadow cabinet).^[5][14][3] GRADIT also lists ombra as a name of some fish of the drum family, the Sciaenidae.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2646
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
13. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Marcato, Carla (1998), I dialetti italiani: dizionario etimologico, Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse