umber

plural umbers · alternative umbre

1. countableuncountableA brown clay, somewhat darker than ochre, which contains iron and manganese oxides.

   They instructed the upholsterer to do the sofa in cinnamon and the ottoman in umber.

   1 more example

   I'll put myself in poor and mean attire, And with a kind of umber smirch my face; The like do you; so shall we pass along, And never stir assailants.

   c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], lines 518-21

2. alternativecountableuncountableAlternative form of umbrere.
3. countableuncountableA grayling.
4. countableuncountableA dusky brown African wading bird (Scopus umbretta) allied to the shoebill and herons; a hamerkop.

alternative umbre

1. not comparableOf a reddish brown colour, like that of the pigment.

   Their harps are of the umber shade / That hides the blush of waking day.

   1819, Joseph Rodman Drake, The Culprit Fay

present singular third person umbers · participle present umbering · participle past umbered · past umbered · alternative umbre

1. transitiveTo give a reddish-brown colour to.

   Armies o'er armies heap'd, the locusts came, Like clouds in autumn umbering all the sky […]

   1807, Charles Hoyle, Exodus