umbră

Forms

umbră f (plural umbre)^[1] Old texts also have îmbră and umră, and a regional form is umbâră.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin umbra (“shadow, shade”).^[3][2][4][1] The word survives south of the Danube: Aromanian aumbrã and Megleno-Romanian umbră.^[3][5][6][7] Wiktionary suggests the Aromanian form may owe its initial vowel to the verb aumbredz.^[1] Ciorănescu compares Italian ombra, Occitan ombra, Catalan ombra and French ombre;^[3][8] Cihac adds Spanish sombra and Portuguese sombra, which he takes from a compound with sub.^[9]

The further origin of the Latin word is uncertain: de Vaan connects it with a Lithuanian word for “shade”, while Wiktionary mentions an Old Latin *omra and a possible Proto-Indo-European *h₂mr-u-.^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 dates the first record to the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century.^[2] The Voroneț psalter of about 1551 has umbră in Psalm 139:8,^[11] and Tiktin cites the Psaltirea Scheiană for “shadow” (Psalm 22:4).^[12]

Semantic evolution

The Latin sense “shade, shadow” has stayed at the centre: the dark area where direct light does not reach, and the outline that a body casts.^[4][2] From these came “darkness”, a dark patch or shading in a picture, a dim and indistinct shape, and the ghost of a dead person; figuratively a very thin, sick person, a mere trace of something, and an illusion.^[4] Shade also gave “coolness” and the arbour or shelter called umbrar.^[2][3]

Many phrases use it: a face umbră pământului (degeaba) “to live uselessly”, recorded by Tiktin from the 19th century,^[12] din umbră “secretly”, a lăsa în umbră “to outshine” and copil de la umbră “a child born out of wedlock”.^[4][2] Ciorănescu lists umbrelă among the words he gives after it, but takes it from Italian ombrella and French ombrelle.^[3]

Timeline

• early 16th century – the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, the first record.^[2]
• 1551 – umbră in the Voroneț psalter.^[11]
• 1570 – in Coresi's psalter.^[11]
• 16th century – umbră “shadow” in the Psaltirea Scheiană.^[12]
• 1773 – a manuscript compares a fool to one who chases the wind and leans on a shadow.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. shade: the darkness caused by an opaque body that blocks the light, and the dark, cool place where direct light does not reach.^[4][2][1]
2. darkness, obscurity.^[4]
3. A dark shade or patch, especially the darker part of a picture.^[4] (figurative) A trace of sadness on someone's face.^[4]
4. A shadow: the dark outline that a being or a thing casts on a lit surface.^[4][12]
5. A dim, indistinct image or shape.^[4]
6. A ghost, the spirit of a dead person.^[4] (figurative) A very thin, sick person.^[4]
7. (figurative) A trace, a very small amount of something.^[4] Also, an appearance, an illusion.^[4]

Word family

• umbrar
• umbratic
• umbros
• umbri

Related words

• Aromanian aumbrã
• Latin umbra

Usage notes

The compound umbra-iepurelui “hare's shadow” names an asparagus, Asparagus collinus.^[4][9] Se teme și de umbra lui “he is afraid of his own shadow” is said of a very fearful person.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1367
3. ^ a b c d e Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. umbră
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1169
5. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 177
6. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 46
7. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 314
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9046
9. ^ a b Cihac, A. de (1870), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane I: Éléments latins comparés avec les autres langues romanes, Frankfurt am Main, p. 297
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 139:8
12. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. umbră