umbrella

Definition

A cloth-covered frame used for protection against rain or sun.

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian ombrella, umbrella (“parasol, sunshade”), diminutive of ombra (“shade”) (or from a Late Latin or Medieval Latin umbrella), from Latin umbra (“shadow”).

Example Sentences

• "Quick, grab that umbrella before you get rained on!"
• "There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls."
• "When the [lost property] office first opened, the most frequently lost items were umbrellas. Every white-collar professional carried one, but despite, or because of, that they were easily forgotten about. […] In the 1930s, a quarter of a million umbrellas a year came into the office. Now it's more like 10,000."

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