/ˈʌmbə/, /ˈʌmbɚ/
OriginFrom Middle French ombre (“umber”), from terre d'ombre (“dark ochre”), from Old French umbre (“shade, shadow”), from Latin umbra. Doublet of umbra.
- countable, uncountableA brown clay, somewhat darker than ochre, which contains iron and manganese oxides.
“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.”
- countable, uncountableA grayling.
- countable, uncountableA dusky brown African wading bird (Scopus umbretta) allied to the shoebill and herons; a hamerkop.
- 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.”
- transitiveTo give a reddish-brown colour to.
“Armies o'er armies heap'd, the locusts came,
Like clouds in autumn umbering all the sky […]”
Formsumbers(plural) · umbre(alternative) · umbers(present, singular, third-person) · umbering(participle, present) · umbered(participle, past) · umbered(past)