Etymology

umber

um·ber
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Today it means: A brown clay, somewhat darker than ochre, which contains iron and manganese oxides. Full definition →

Middle French ombre ← Old French umbre ← Latin umbra
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromumbra
  2. Old French · derived fromumbre“shade, shadow”
  3. Middle French · borrowed fromombre“umber”
  4. English todayumber

From Middle French ombre (“umber”), from terre d'ombre (“dark ochre”), from Old French umbre (“shade, shadow”), from Latin umbra. Doublet of umbra.

Words from the same roots

Latinumbra all →

umbraumbratilousumbrelumbrereUmbrielumbrineumbrisol

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.