Wordul · all words

noun · 2 syllables · /ˈʌm.brə/

UMBRA

What does "UMBRA" mean?

The darkest, central part of a shadow, where all light from a source is blocked.

Meanings

  1. The fully dark core of a shadow, where the light source is completely hidden. Only observers inside the Moon's umbra see a total solar eclipse. technical
  2. The dark central region of a sunspot, surrounded by a lighter penumbra. Through the filter, each sunspot showed a black umbra ringed in grey. technical

Word origin

Directly from Latin 'umbra' meaning 'shade' or 'shadow'; the same root gives English 'umbrella' (a little shade) and 'umbrage'.

Remember it

UMBRA is the dark center; an UMBRELLA makes you a little patch of it on a sunny day - same Latin 'umbra', shade.

A little poem

Noon goes out like a lamp-
for two slow minutes the day
wears the moon's black coin.

haiku

Wordplay

  • The umbra and the penumbra had an argument; the umbra refused to see anything in a different light.

What it teaches

Total darkness is just the one spot where nothing reaches you - step a little aside and some light always returns.

Quick facts

What does UMBRA mean?

The darkest, central part of a shadow, where all light from a source is blocked.

Is UMBRA a valid word?

Yes — UMBRA is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.

How many letters is UMBRA?

UMBRA has 5 letters and 2 syllables.

Where does UMBRA come from?

Directly from Latin 'umbra' meaning 'shade' or 'shadow'; the same root gives English 'umbrella' (a little shade) and 'umbrage'.

What can UMBRA teach us?

Total darkness is just the one spot where nothing reaches you - step a little aside and some light always returns.

How players do

Be the first to solve it.

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