umbrosus

Forms

umbrōsus (feminine umbrōsa, neuter umbrōsum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin umbra (“shade, shadow”) + -ōsus.^[2][1] The noun umbra is generally connected with Lithuanian ùnksna (“shade”) and taken back to Proto-Italic *unksrā-, but de Vaan notes that no root etymology is known.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first example in the OLD is in Cato the Elder, who says willow beds should be planted in wet, shady places.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It means full of shade, of places, as in Cicero's “I never saw a shadier place in summer” and Virgil's shadowy caverns, and of trees and the like, giving plenty of shade.^[2][4] The neuter plural is used as a noun for shady places, as in Pliny the Elder and Seneca.^[2]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato the Elder of shady places.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a shady spot.^[2][4][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of shadowy caverns.^[2][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of shady places as a noun.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of places, full of shade, shadowy, shady.^[2][4][1]
2. Of trees, giving plenty of shade.^[2][4]
3. (neuter plural as noun) Shady places.^[2]

Related words

• umbra
• opacus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de