umbra

um·bra

Use umbra in a sentence

The streetlights shadow is an example of umbra.

noun

Umbra is shadow, or a dark tone or area.

An example of an umbra is the shadow beyond a streetlight.
An example of an umbra is the darkest part of the shadow cast by an eclipse.

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"umbra." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Umbra>.

APA Style

umbra. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Umbra

umbra

noun

pl. -·brae or -·bras

shade or a shadow
the dark central cone of shadow projecting from a planet or satellite on the side opposite the sun
the dark central part of a sunspot
Rare a phantom, or ghost
Physics a perfect or complete shadow, in which no direct light is received from the source of illumination

Origin of umbra

L, a shade, shadow

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MLA Style

"umbra." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Umbra>.

APA Style

umbra. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Umbra

umbra

noun

pl. um·bras, or um·brae

A dark area, especially the blackest part of a shadow from which all light is cut off.
Astronomy
a. The completely dark central portion of the shadow cast by the earth, moon, or other body during an eclipse.
b. The darkest region of a sunspot.

Origin of umbra

Latin shadow

Related Forms:

um′bral
adjective

umbra

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"umbra." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Umbra>.

APA Style

umbra. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Umbra

Plural umbras

The darkest part of a shadow, especially the cone-shaped region of full shadow cast by Earth, the Moon, or another body during an eclipse. In a full lunar eclipse, which generally lasts for one or two hours, the entire disk of the Moon is darkened as it passes through the umbra. During this period the Moon takes on a faint reddish glow due to illumination by a small amount of sunlight that is refracted through the Earth's atmosphere and bent toward the darkened Moon; the reddish tint is caused by the filtering out of blue wavelengths as the sunlight passes through the Earth's atmosphere, leaving only the longer wavelengths on the red end of the spectrum.
See Note at eclipse
The dark central region of a sunspot.
Compare penumbra