LOGOI

The corpus record — Latin

umbra

umbra

shadow, shade

Generated live from the audited Latin corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

  • Copa, Appendix Vergiliana 1 · 42.19/10k
  • Appendix Vergiliana 1 · 36.9/10k
  • Dirae, Appendix Vergiliana 2 · 30.82/10k
  • Eclogues 11 · 24.24/10k
  • Culex, Appendix Vergiliana 6 · 22.96/10k
  • Octavia 12 · 22.94/10k
  • Thebais 121 · 19.36/10k
  • Hercules 14 · 18.39/10k
  • Appendix Vergiliana 2 · 18.25/10k
  • Fescinnina de nuptiis Honorii Augusti 1 · 18.25/10k
  • Hercules Oetaeus 20 · 17.75/10k
  • Georgicon 23 · 16.25/10k

Densest 12 of 156 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. umbra — de Vaan

umbra 'shadow, shade' [f a] (P1.+) Derivatives: umbraticus 'that lives in the shade' (P1.+), umbraticulus Mazy-bones' (PI,), umbraculum 'shelter, shade* (Varro+), umbrare cto cast a shadow' (Varro+); — [de Vaan, s.v. umbra, p. 653]

2. umbra — Lewis & Short

umbra, ae, f.etym. dub.; Curt. compares Sanscr. ambara, an encircling,

I a shade, shadow.
I Lit.: cum usque quaque umbra est, tamen Sol semper hic est, Plaut. Most. 3, 2, 79: illa platanus, cujus umbram secutus est Socrates, Cic. de Or. 1, 7, 28: fiebat, ut incideret luna in eam metam, quae esset umbra terrae, etc., id. Rep. 1, 14, 22; cf. id. Div. 2, 6, 17: colles ... afferunt umbram vallibus, id. Rep. 2, 6, 11: nox Involvens umbrā magnā terramque polumque, Verg. A. 2, 251: spissis noctis se condidit umbris, id. ib. 2, 621: majoresque cadunt altis de montibus umbrae, id. E. 1, 84; 5, 70: pampineae, id. ib. 7, 58: certum est mihi, quasi umbra, quoquo ibis tu, te persequi, Plaut. Cas. 1, 4; cf. id. Most. 3, 2, 82.—Prov.: umbras timere, to be afraid of shadows, i. e. to fear without cause, Cic. Att. 15, 20, 4: umbram suam metuere, Q. Cic. Petit. Cons. 2, 9: ipse meas solus, quod nil est, aemulor umbras, Prop. 2, 34 (3, 32), 19.—
B Transf.
1 In painting, the dark part of a painting, shade, shadow: quam multa vident pictores in umbris et in eminentiā, quae nos non videmus! Cic. Ac. 2, 7, 20; so (opp. lumen) Plin. 35, 5, 11, § 29; 35, 11, 40, § 131; 33, 3, 57, § 163.—
2 A shade, ghost of a dead person (poet. and in post-Aug. prose; cf.: Manes, Lemures): nos ubi decidimus, Quo dives Tullus et Ancus, Pulvis et umbra sumus, Hor. C. 4, 7, 16: ne forte animas Acherunte reamur Effugere aut umbras inter vivos volitare, Lucr. 4, 38; cf.: cornea (porta), quā veris facilis datur exitus umbris, Verg. A. 6, 894; Tib. 3, 2, 9; Verg. A. 5, 734; Hor. C. 2, 13, 30; id. S. 1, 8, 41; Plin. 30, 2, 6, § 18; Suet. Calig. 59 al.: Umbrarum rex, i. e. Pluto, Ov. M. 7, 249; so, dominus, id. ib. 10, 16.— In the plur. umbrae, of a single dead person: matris agitabitur umbris, Ov. M. 9, 410; 8, 476; 6, 541; Verg. A. 6, 510; 10, 519 al.—
3 Like the Greek skia/, an uninvited guest, whom an invited one brings with him (cf. parasitus), Hor. S. 2, 8, 22; id. Ep. 1, 5, 28; Plaut. Pers. 2, 4, 27; so, of an attendant: luxuriae, Cic. Mur. 6, 13.—
4 A shade, shady place, that which gives a shade or shadow (as a tree, house, tent, etc; poet.); of trees: nudus Arboris Othrys erat nec habebat Pelion umbras, Ov. M. 12, 513; so id. ib. 10, 88; 10, 90; 14, 447; Verg. G. 1, 157, id. E. 9, 20; 5, 5; Sil. 4, 681: Pompeiā spatiabere cultus in umbrā, i. e. in the Pompeian portico, Prop. 4 (5), 8, 75. so, Pompeia, Ov. A. A. 1, 67; 3, 387: vacuā tonsoris in umbrā, in the cool barber's shop, Hor. Ep. 1, 7, 50: studia in umbrā educata, in the closet, study, Tac. A. 14, 53; cf.: rhetorica, i. e. the rhetorician's school, Juv. 7, 173: dum roseis venit umbra genis, i. e. down, beard, Stat. Th. 4, 336; cf.: dubia lanuginis, Claud. Nupt. Pall. et Celer. 42: nunc umbra nudata sua jam tempora moerent, i. e. of hair, Petr. poët. 109: summae cassidis umbra, i. e. the plume or crest, Stat. Th. 6, 226: sed non erat illi Arcus et ex umeris nullae fulgentibus umbrae, i. e. quivers, id. S. 3, 4, 30.—
5 A fish, called also sciaena; a grayling, umber: Salmo thymallus, Linn.; Enn. ap. App. Mag. p. 299 (Heduph. v. 7 Vahl.); Varr. L. L. 5, § 77 Müll.; Ov. Hal. 111; Col. 8, 16, 8; Aus. Idyll. 10, 90.—
II Trop., like the Engl. shadow or shade.
A Opp. to substance or reality, a trace, obscure sign or image, faint appearance, imperfect copy or representation, semblance, pretence (cf. simulacrum): veri juris germanaeque justitiae solidam et expressam effigiem nullam tenemus, umbrā et imaginibus utimur, Cic. Off. 3, 17, 69: umbra et imago civitatis, id. Rep. 2, 30, 53: umbra et imago equitis Romani, id. Rab. Post. 15, 41: o hominem amentem et miserum, qui ne umbram quidem umquam tou= kalou= viderit! id. Att. 7, 11, 1: in quo ipsam luxuriam reperire non potes, in eo te umbram luxuriae reperturum putas? id. Mur. 6, 13: in comoediā maxime claudicamus ... vix levem consequimur umbram, Quint. 10, 1, 100: sub umbrā foederis aequi servitutem pati, Liv. 8, 4, 2: umbras falsae gloriae consectari, Cic. Pis. 24, 57: umbra es amantum magis quam amator, Plaut. Mil. 3, 1, 31: mendax pietatis umbra, Ov. M. 9, 459: libertatis, Luc. 3, 146: belli, Sil. 15, 316: umbras quasdam veritatis habere, Plin. 30, 2, 6, § 17; Claud. Laud. Stil. 1, 273.—
B Shelter, cover, protection: umbra et recessus, Cic. de Or. 3, 26, 101: umbrā magni nominis delitescunt, Quint. 12, 10, 15: umbra vestri auxilii tegi possumus, Liv. 7, 30, 18: sub umbrā auxilii vestri latere volunt, id. 32, 21, 31: sub umbrā Romanae amicitiae latebant, id. 34, 9, 10: morum vitia sub umbrā eloquentiae primo latebant, Just. 5, 2, 7.—
C Rest, leisure: ignavā Veneris cessamus in umbrā, Ov. Am. 2, 18, 3; Albin. Ob. Maec. 98.

In the wild

6 of 1,306 attestations shown.

Where it came from

  • de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) Treated in de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) s.v. umbra (scan p. 653; entry #1870).
  • Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine Treated in Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine s.v. umbra (scan p. 769; entry #12840).

Latin text and lemmatization derived from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit), CC BY-SA 4.0. Lewis & Short (public domain) via Perseus. This derived data is shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license.