shadow

English

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Shadows on the beach

Etymology

From Middle English schadowe, schadewe, schadwe (also schade > shade), from Old English sceaduwe, sceadwe, oblique form of sceadu (“shadow, shade; darkness; protection”), from Proto-Germanic *skaduz, *skadwaz (“shade, shadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *skot- (“darkness”). Cognate with Scots scaddow, schaddow (“shadow”), Saterland Frisian Skaad (“shade, shadow”), Dutch schaduw (“shadow”), German Schatten (“shadow, shade”), Norwegian skodde (“fog, mist”), Irish scáth (“shadow”), Ancient Greek σκότος (skótos, “darkness, gloom”).

Pronunciation

Noun

shadow (plural shadows)

  1. A dark image projected onto a surface where light is blocked by the shade of an object.
    My shadow lengthened as the sun began to set.
  2. Relative darkness, especially as caused by the interruption of light; gloom, obscurity.
    I immediately jumped into shadow as I saw them approach.
  3. That which looms as though a shadow.
    I don't have a shadow of doubt in my mind that my plan will succeed.
    The shadow of fear of my being outed always affects how I live my life.
    I lived in her shadow my whole life.
    • 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page vii
      Hepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose shadow falls over us all.
  4. Merely a hint of substance.
    He came back from war the shadow of a man.
    He did not give even a shadow of respect to the professor.
  5. One who secretly or furtively follows another.
    The constable was promoted to working as a shadow for the Royals.
  6. A type of lettering form of word processors that makes a cubic effect.
  7. An influence, especially a pervasive or a negative one.
    • 1844 May 23, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The Present Age: Politics”, in Robert E. Spiller, Wallace E. Williams editor, The early lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson, volume 3, published 1972:
      Men see the institution and worship it. It is only the lengthened shadow of one man. […] The Reformation is the shadow of Luther: Quakerism of Fox: Methodism of Wesley: Abolition of Clarkson.

Usage notes

  • A person (or object) is said to "cast", "have", or "throw" a shadow if that shadow is caused by the person (either literally, by eclipsing a light source, or figuratively). The shadow may then be described as the shadow "cast" or "thrown" by the person, or as the shadow "of" the person, or simply as the person's shadow.

Derived terms

Terms derived from shadow (noun)

Translations

dark image projected onto a surface
relative darkness
one who secretly or furtively follows another
type of lettering form
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

shadow (third-person singular simple present shadows, present participle shadowing, simple past and past participle shadowed)

  1. To block light or radio transmission.
    Looks like that cloud's going to shadow us.
  2. (espionage) To secretly or discreetly track or follow another, to keep under surveillance.
  3. (programming) To make an identifier, usually a variable, inaccessible by declaring another of the same name within the scope of the first.

Derived terms

Translations

to block light or radio transmission
to secretly track or follow another
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Last modified on 21 May 2013, at 17:38