ombre French · revision 17283

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=938–50, Sermon sur Jonas (umbre)|origins=la umbra}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (France): /ɔ̃bʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Canada): /õːbʀ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ombre''' ''f'' (plural ombres)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|umbre]] (until the 14th century), then ''ombre'' (1176–81); often masculine until the 16th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|umbre]], [[inh|la|umbra|t=shadow; shade; ghost; semblance]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|14, 21b) Rey finds plausible a link with [[sa|अन्धस्|tr=ándhas|t=darkness]], Wiktionary suggests an Old Latin “*omra” and a possible Indo-European [[ine-pro|*h₂mr-u-]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) Latin “umbra” was also used, like [[grc|σκιά|tr=skiá]], of an uninvited guest brought along by another, and of certain fishes.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|umbră]], [[it|ombra]], [[oc|ombra]] and [[ca|ombra]]; [[es|sombra]] has another form.^(REW 1935)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Sermon on Jonah'' (938–50) ''umbre'' is the shade given against the sun, the space deprived of light by an opaque body; the ''Chanson de Roland'' has ''sous l'umbre'' in the orchard.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Figuratively it meant shelter, protection (Cambridge Psalter, mid-12th century: ''en l'umbre de tes eles'' “in the shadow of thy wings”), and pretext (''sous ombre de'', 1280).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) About 1165 it was a person's reflection, and in Chrétien de Troyes (1176–81) one's shadow, ''qui peor a de son ombre''; it then came to mean a vain appearance (1547) and a trace, a hint (''pas l'ombre de'', 1690).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The Latin sense of the shade of the dead was taken up in the 16th century (Du Bellay, 1549).^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ In painting it is a term of art (1667), whence Boileau's ''une ombre au tableau'' (1667).^(TLFi) ''Mettre à l'ombre'' meant to put in prison as early as 1486 and to kill in 18th-century slang.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) ''Ombres chinoises'' (1776) were a shadow show said to come from China, and ''lâcher la proie pour l'ombre'' alludes to La Fontaine's fable.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 938–50 – ''Umbre'', ''Sermon on Jonah''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Sous l'umbre'', ''Chanson de Roland''.^(Littré 1873)

+ * c. 1165 – A reflection, Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^(TLFi)

+ * 1176–81 – One's shadow, Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1280 – ''Sous ombre de''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1486 – ''Mettre à l'ombre'' “to imprison”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1549 – The shade of the dead, Du Bellay.^(TLFi)

+ * 1667 – ''Une ombre au tableau'', Boileau.^(TLFi)

+ * 1776 – ''Ombres chinoises''.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|shade]]: an area sheltered from direct light: ''à l'ombre'', ''trente degrés à l'ombre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|shadow]] cast by a body: ''avoir peur de son ombre'', ''suivre quelqu'un comme son ombre''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Darkness, obscurity; anonymity: ''dans l'ombre'', ''sortir de l'ombre''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A [[m|en|ghost]], the shade of a dead person.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # A trace, hint: ''sans l'ombre d'un doute'', ''pas l'ombre de''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(painting)'' Shaded part of a picture, ''une ombre au tableau'', a fly in the ointment.^(TLFi)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''Mettre à l'ombre'': to put in prison.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ombrage]]

+ * [[ombrager]]

+ * [[ombrageux]]

+ * [[ombrelle]]

+ * [[ombrer]]

+ * [[ombreux]]

+ * [[pénombre]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sombre]]

+ * [[la|umbra]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Ombre'' (masculine) is also the [[m|en|grayling]], a river fish, from Latin ''umbra'', a dark-coloured fish (''umbre'', late 14th century); ''ombre-chevalier'' is an altered form of [[omble]].^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(BHVF) ''Terre d'ombre'' (1562), elliptically ''ombre'', is an umber pigment, Littré derived it from Umbria.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}