umbrella

Alternative forms

• brelly, brellie, brolly (chiefly UK, diminutive)
• humbrella (archaic)
• ombrella, umbrello (obsolete)

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”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ʌmˈbɹɛlə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (Southern US) IPA^(key): /ˈʌmbɹɛlə/
• Rhymes: -ɛlə

Noun

umbrella (plural umbrellas)

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

   Meronyms: runner, rib, canopy, stretcher

   Quick, grab that umbrella before you get rained on!

   • 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0091:

     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.

   • 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 197:

     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.

2. (figurative) Anything that provides similar protection.

   The fighters provide a defensive air umbrella over the battle group.

3. (figurative) Anything that provides similar overarching coverage of a range of concepts, purposes, groups, etc.

   The test facility was established under the umbrella of the company's quality program.

4. The main body of a jellyfish, excluding the tentacles.

   Jellyfish are composed of more than 90% water and most of their umbrella mass is made up of gelatinous material.

5. (photography, television) An umbrella-shaped reflector with a white or silvery inner surface, used to diffuse a nearby light.
   • 2014, Michael Allen, Modern Wedding Photography, page 97:

     Using umbrellas for shooting a wedding party is ok, but not necessary.

Verb

umbrella (third-person singular simple present umbrellas, present participle umbrellaing, simple past and past participle umbrellaed)

1. (transitive) To cover or protect, as if by an umbrella.
   • 1944, Emily Carr, “Life Loves Living”, in The House of All Sorts‎:

     Experts with saws and ladders came and lopped off the lower branches. This sent the tree's growth rushing violently to her head in a lush overhanging which umbrellaed the House of All Sorts.

   • 2008, Jonathan Kellerman, Bad Love: Alex Delaware 8:

     Huge pine and eucalyptus umbrellaed the grounds, airconditioning the morning.

2. (intransitive) To form the dome shape of an open umbrella.
   • 2011, B. A. Rothwell, The Peaceful Queen, page 31:

     Bright yellow gowns fit them tightly and umbrellaed from their waist to just below the knees.

3. (intransitive) To move like a jellyfish.
   • 1997, National Geographic Traveler, page 36:

     The light catches the filigreed tendrils and graceful motion of the jellies, their orange bodies umbrella-ing along like fairy parasols come to life.

Anagrams

• umbellar

Etymology

Borrowed from Sicilian umbrella.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /umˈbrɛl.la/

Noun

umbrella f (plural umbrelel, diminutive umbrellin or umbrellina)

1. umbrella

Noun

umbrella f (plural umbrellas)

1. (Surmiran, Vallader) umbrella, parasol