umbrella
English
Alternative forms
- humbrella (archaic)
- ombrella (obsolete)
- umbrello (obsolete)
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian ombrella, umbrella (“parasol, sunshade”), dim. of ombra (“shade”) (or from a Late Latin or Medieval Latin umbrella), from Latin umbra (“shadow”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /ʌmˈbɹɛlə/
- (Southern American English) IPA(key): /ˈʌmbɹɛlə/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛlə
Noun
umbrella (plural umbrellas)
An umbrella (1)
- A cloth-covered frame used for protection against rain or sun.
- Quick, grab that umbrella before you get rained on!
- 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, OCLC 7780546; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], OCLC 2666860, page 0091:
- There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
- 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 197:
- When the [lost property] office first opened, the most frequently lost items were umbrellas. Every white-collar professional carried one, but despite, or because of, that they were easily forgotten about. [...] In the 1930s, a quarter of a million umbrellas a year came into the office. Now it's more like 10,000.
- Generally, anything that provides protection.
- The fighters provide a defensive air umbrella over the battle group.
- Something that covers a wide range of concepts, purposes, groups, etc.
- The test facility was established under the umbrella of the company's quality program.
- The main body of a jellyfish, excluding the tentacles.
- Jellyfish are composed of more than 90% water and most of their umbrella mass is made up of gelatinous material.
- (photography, television) An umbrella-shaped reflector with a white or silvery inner surface, used to diffuse a nearby light.
- 2014, Michael Allen, Modern Wedding Photography (page 97)
- Using umbrellas for shooting a wedding party is ok, but not necessary.
- 2014, Michael Allen, Modern Wedding Photography (page 97)
Synonyms
- bumbershoot, umbershoot (both US slang)
- brolly (colloquial)
- gamp (dated, colloquial)
- parasol
- rain napper (UK, slang, obsolete)
- rainshade
Derived terms
Terms derived from umbrella (noun)
- Amazonian umbrellabird
- Atlantic umbrella slug
- bare-necked umbrellabird
- bastard umbrella thorn
- exumbrella
- exumbrellar
- Japanese umbrella pine
- jumbrella
- long-wattled umbrellabird
- poor man's umbrella
- subumbrella
- umbrellabird
- umbrella bird
- umbrella brand
- umbrella company
- umbrella corallimorpharian
- umbrella crab
- umbrella fund
- umbrella-leaf
- umbrellaless
- umbrellalike
- umbrella organisation, umbrella organization
- umbrella pine
- umbrella plant
- umbrella school
- umbrella stand
- umbrella term
- umbrella tree
- yellow umbrella slug
Related terms
- umbra, umbrel, umbrere
Descendants
- → Welsh: ymbarél
Translations
cloth-covered frame used for protection against rain or sun
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anything that provides protection
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something that covers a wide range of concepts, ideas, etc.
|
the main body of a jellyfish, excluding the tentacles
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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See also
- awning
- bumbershoot
- gamp
- parasol
- shield
Further reading
- umbrella in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- umbrella in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
Verb
umbrella (third-person singular simple present umbrellas, present participle umbrellaing, simple past and past participle umbrellaed)
- (transitive) To cover or protect, as if by an umbrella.
- 1944, Emily Carr, The House of All Sorts, “Life Loves Living,”
- Experts with saws and ladders came and lopped off the lower branches. This sent the tree's growth rushing violently to her head in a lush overhanging which umbrellaed the House of All Sorts.
- 2008, Jonathan Kellerman, Bad Love: Alex Delaware 8:
- Huge pine and eucalyptus umbrellaed the grounds, airconditioning the morning.
- 1944, Emily Carr, The House of All Sorts, “Life Loves Living,”
- (intransitive) To form the dome shape of an open umbrella.
- 2011, B. A. Rothwell, The Peaceful Queen, page 31:
- Bright yellow gowns fit them tightly and umbrellaed from their waist to just below the knees.
-
- (intransitive) To move like a jellyfish.
- 1997, National Geographic Traveler, page 36:
- The light catches the filigreed tendrils and graceful motion of the jellies, their orange bodies umbrella-ing along like fairy parasols come to life.
-
Anagrams
- umbellar
Maltese
Etymology
Borrowed from Sicilian umbrella.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /umˈbrɛl.la/
Noun
umbrella f (plural umbrelel, diminutive umbrellin or umbrellina)
- umbrella
Romansch
Noun
umbrella f (plural umbrellas)
- (Surmiran, Vallader) umbrella, parasol
Synonyms
- (Rumantsch Grischun) paraplievgia
- (Puter) paraplövgia
- (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Puter) parisol
- (Sutsilvan) prisol
- (Vallader) parasul