Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of adumbrating or making a shadow or faint resemblance.
  • noun Figuratively, a faint sketch; an imperfect representation; something that suggests by resemblance, or shadows forth; a foreshadowing.
  • noun In heraldry, the shadow only of a figure, outlined, and painted of a color darker than the field.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of adumbrating, or shadowing forth.
  • noun A faint sketch; an outline; an imperfect portrayal or representation of a thing.
  • noun (Her.) The shadow or outlines of a figure.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun obsolete, art Shading.
  • noun A faint sketch; an outline, a brief representation.
  • noun figuratively A rough or symbolic representation of something.
  • noun heraldry The shadow or outline of a figure.
  • noun literature A vague indication of what is to come.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the act of providing vague advance indications; representing beforehand
  • noun a sketchy or imperfect or faint representation

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin adumbrātiōnem, from adumbrāre.

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Examples

Comments

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  • I like the third meaning from the Century Dictionary: "In heraldry, the shadow only of a figure, outlined, and painted of a color darker than the field. Shadow, however, has no proper place in heraldry. It is a modern abuse."

    June 2, 2010

  • It’s peculiar that the same creepy guy from the umbrage page also appears here. (I apologize in advance on the off chance that he’s one of you creepy guys.) He’s not on the adumbrage page—I checked.

    September 25, 2011

  • Damn! That guy is creepy. Do you think he might be DJ Spooky?

    September 25, 2011

  • Embarrassed, Dan slinks off into an [umbra.]

    September 25, 2011

  • His name's Ion. He's a dumb rat.

    September 25, 2011