obumbrate

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UK/ɒˈbʌmbreɪt/UK/əˈbʌmbreɪt/US/ɑˈbəmˌbreɪt/US/əˈbəmˌbreɪt/

verb

To shade; to darken; to cloud.

OriginLatin obumbrātus →
First used 1531Scrabble 15
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Meanings

verbobumbrate (third-person singular simple present obumbrates, present participle obumbrating, simple past and past participle obumbrated)

present singular third person obumbrates · participle present obumbrating · participle past obumbrated · past obumbrated

  1. rareTo shade; to darken; to cloud.First known use 1531

    those clouds, which did hang over and thus obumbrate him

    1640, I. H. [i.e., James Howell], ΔΕΝΔΡΟΛΟΓΊΑ [DENDROLOGIA]. Dodona’s Grove, or, The Vocall Forrest, London: […] T[homas] B[adger] for H. Mosley [i.e., Humphrey Moseley] […], →OCLC
  2. obsoletetransitiveTo foreshadow, prefigure.First known use 1632–1852
  3. obsoleteparticiplepastpast participle of obumbrate
adjectiveobumbrate (not comparable)
  1. not comparablerarebiologyLying under some projecting part, like the abdomen of certain spiders.First known use 1826
  2. Scotlandnot comparableobsoleteOvershadowed, darkened.First known use 1425-1650

Origin

  1. Latinobumbrātus
  2. Englishobumbrate

Borrowed from Latin obumbrātus, perfect passive participle of obumbrō (“to overshadow, cloud”), from ob + to shade; see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

bumboater
Cite this entry
APA

obumbrate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/obumbrate

MLA

“obumbrate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/obumbrate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “obumbrate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/obumbrate.

Source: obumbrate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.