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umbella

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word umbella

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
40–102/103 AD, Martial
Ultimate origin
Latin umbra
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin umbra
French ombre
Italian ombra
Latin umbella
From the same root
Latin umbraculum ← umbra
Latin umbraticus ← umbra
Latin umbro ← umbra
Latin umbrosus ← umbra

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ʊmˈbɛl.la][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [umˈbɛl.la][1]

Forms

umbella f (genitive umbellae); first declension[1] The form umbrella, altered under the influence of umbra, appears in Late and Medieval Latin.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin umbra (“shade, shadow”) + -ella, a diminutive.[4][5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Martial uses it for a sunshade or parasol, and one of his epigram titles is Umbella.[4][5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

The word is rare in Classical Latin: besides Martial, Juvenal uses it of a parasol.[5][6] Medieval writers kept it for a sunshade or parasol, and it appears in glossaries, among them the Old English Corpus Glossary, in the form umbrellas.[3] In Neo-Latin it also named a canopy over a king.[8][9]

Botanists took it up in the 1590s for the umbel, a flower cluster shaped like an open parasol.[2] The altered form umbrella passed into Italian as ombrello then into English, first recorded about 1600.[2]

Timeline

  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial mentions the sunshade.[4][6][7]
  • c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses the word.[5][6][7]
  • 639–709 AD – Aldhelm lists the word.[3][7]
  • 1590s – Borrowed into English botany as umbel.[2]
  • c. 1600 – English umbrella is recorded, from Italian, from the altered Latin form.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A sunshade, parasol.[4][5][6]
  2. (New Latin) A canopy.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
  9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Umbella.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/umbella. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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