adumbration
/ˌædəmˈbɹeɪʃ(ə)n/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 0.00 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A rough or symbolic representation; a vague indication of what is to come, a foreshadowing.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "If it be true, that there is a Firſt Being who has drawn or created all the reſt from nothing, man is truly his image; [...]. But an image, is but an image ſtill, and can be but an adumbration or ſhadow of the true perfect Being."
- "[O]ne of these, [...] seems to have felt some irritation at the obscurity of certain terms not well understood, being in the Latin, or the Greek language, or derived from thence; so that not being able to get at the root, he could not comprehend the stem of the tree; nor enjoy the adumbration of the branches and foliage."
- "And grief from my ma's passing was still with me; such things, like shadows, never leave; they just seem to fade for a time, only to return later. So to the sea I would go, and to New Providence, in a vain attempt to outdistance my own adumbration."
- "There is another Difference of Sounds, which wee call Exteriour, and Interiour. [...] Wee ſhall therefore enumerate them, rather than preciſely diſtinguiſh them; Though (to make ſome Adumbration of that wee meane) the Interiour is rather an Impulſion or Contuſion of the Aire, than an Eliſion or Section of the ſame."
- "For almoſt in all ſenſible Creatures, eſpecially thoſe of the more perfect kind, a certain Image or weak Adumbration of ſomething like Reaſon appears, yet we find no Creatures below Mankind any thing like Religion, or Veneration of a Deity: [...]"
- "[V]ague and unsatisfactory would all these evidences appear, if they had not been illustrated and confirmed by that narrative, of which all other records are but faint adumbrations."
Etymology
From Latin adumbrātiō (“sketch; outline, silhouette; pretence, semblance”) + -ion (suffix indicating a condition or state). Adumbrātiō is derived from adumbrāre (present active infinitive of adumbrō (“to represent an object with light and shade, to shade; to represent in outline, to outline, silhouette, sketch; to cast a shadow on, overshadow, shade; to copy, counterfeit, imitate”)) + -tiō (suffix forming nouns relating to actions or the results of actions). Adumbrō is derived from ad- (prefix meaning ‘to, towards’) + umbrō (“to cast a shadow, to shade; to overshadow”) (from umbra (“shade; shadow; ghost”)).
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌædəmˈbɹeɪʃ(ə)n/
- British English: /ˌædʌmˈbɹeɪʃ(ə)n/