adumbrate

[ ad-uhm-breyt, a-duhm-breyt ]
See synonyms for: adumbrateadumbratesadumbration on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),ad·um·brat·ed, ad·um·brat·ing.
  1. to produce a faint image or resemblance of; to outline or sketch.

  2. to foreshadow; prefigure.

  1. to darken or conceal partially; overshadow.

Origin of adumbrate

1
First recorded in 1575–85; from Latin adumbrātus “shaded,” past participle of adumbrāre “to shade,” from ad- ad- + umbr(a) “shade, shadow” + -āre, infinitive verb suffix

Other words from adumbrate

  • ad·um·bra·tion [ad-uhm-brey-shuhn], /ˌæd əmˈbreɪ ʃən/, noun

Words Nearby adumbrate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use adumbrate in a sentence

  • There had, in truth, scarcely yet been time enough to adumbrate the possibilities opened up by this gentleman's return.

    A Laodicean | Thomas Hardy
  • Feeble is human speech to deal with such high matters, serving, at the best, but dimly to adumbrate ineffable truths.

  • From now onwards the speeches of Brutus strangely adumbrate those of Hamlet.

  • Two short passages adumbrate the coming Tennyson, the rest is mystic nonsense.

    A. W. Kinglake | W. Tuckwell
  • A type is a symbol appointed by God to adumbrate something higher in the future, which is called the antitype.

    Companion to the Bible | E. P. Barrows

British Dictionary definitions for adumbrate

adumbrate

/ (ˈædʌmˌbreɪt) /


verb(tr)
  1. to outline; give a faint indication of

  2. to foreshadow

  1. to overshadow; obscure

Origin of adumbrate

1
C16: from Latin adumbrātus represented only in outline, from adumbrāre to cast a shadow on, from umbra shadow

Derived forms of adumbrate

  • adumbration, noun
  • adumbrative (ædˈʌmbrətɪv), adjective
  • adumbratively, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012