shade English · revision 7148

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 900|origins=gem-pro *skadwaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʃeɪd/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English schade, [[inh|ang|sceadu|t=partial darkness; shelter, protection]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*skadwaz]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) source also of Dutch [[m|nl|schaduw]], German [[m|de|Schatten]] and Gothic skadus,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from PIE *skot-wo-, from [[ine-pro|*skot-|alt=*skoto-|t=dark, shade]], also the root of Greek [[m|grc|σκότος|tr=skótos|t=darkness]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[shadow|alt=Shadow]] is the same word, from its oblique cases.^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Partial darkness; shelter from the sun: before 900 in Barnhart, before 1000 in the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Fowler, quoted by Etymonline, calls the difference between shade and shadow ''an accidental one'', the nominative and oblique cases of the same word.^(Etymonline) The darkness of the underworld, ''the shades'', is from 1594,^(OED 1989) and a ghost from the 1610s;^(Etymonline) ''shades of ...'', invoking a memory, is from 1818.^(Etymonline) A lampshade is from 1780, an eyeshade from 1801 and a window blind by 1845.^(Etymonline) A grade of colour is from the 17th–18th century,^(Hoad 1986) and a slight degree, ''a shade better'', is 18th-century.^(Hoad 1986) The verb, to screen from the sun, is from about 1400;^(Etymonline) in painting it is from 1797.^(Etymonline) ''Shades'', sunglasses, and [[shady]], questionable, are later colloquialisms.^(Cresswell 2021)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 900 – partial darkness.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1400 – to screen from the sun (verb).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1594 – the shades, the underworld.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1610s – a ghost.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1780 – a lampshade.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1845 – a window blind.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Comparative darkness and coolness caused by shelter from direct sunlight.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A colour, especially in its degree of darkness or lightness.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A slight degree or difference: ''a shade better''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A cover that reduces or directs light, as a lampshade or ''(chiefly US)'' a window blind.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(literary)'' A [[ghost]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(shades, informal)'' Sunglasses.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To screen from direct light.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To darken parts of a drawing to show depth or shadow.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To change gradually: ''blue shading into green''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[shader]]

+ * [[shadeless]]

+ * [[shadelessness]]

+ * [[semishade]]

+ * [[eyeshade]]

+ * [[lampshade]]

+ * [[sunshade]]

+ * [[nightshade]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[scoto-]]

+ * [[shadow]]

+ * [[shed]]

+ * [[shady]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}