eclipse

EnglishEdit

An eclipse of the Sun by Saturn, seen from the Cassini orbiter

EtymologyEdit

From Old French eclipse, from Latin eclīpsis, from Ancient Greek ἔκλειψις (ékleipsis, “eclipse”), from ἐκλείπω (ekleípō, “I abandon, go missing, vanish”), from ἐκ (ek, “out”) and λείπω (leípō, “I leave behind”).

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /ɪˈklɪps/, /iˈklɪps/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɪps
Hyphenation: eclipse

NounEdit

eclipse (countable and uncountable, plural eclipses)

(astronomy) An alignment of astronomical objects whereby one object comes between the observer (or notional observer) and another object, thus obscuring the latter.
Especially, an alignment whereby a planetary object (for example, the Moon) comes between the Sun and another planetary object (for example, the Earth), resulting in a shadow being cast by the middle planetary object onto the other planetary object.
(ornithology) A seasonal state of plumage in some birds, notably ducks, adopted temporarily after the breeding season and characterised by a dull and scruffy appearance.
Obscurity, decline, downfall.
- a. 1618, Walter Raleigh, quoted in Eclipse, entry in 1805, Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, Volume 2, unnumbered page,
  All the posterity of our first parents suffered a perpetual eclipse of spiritual life.
- 1820, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Unbound, 1839, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley, page 340,
  As in the soft and sweet eclipse,
  When soul meets soul on lovers' lips.
- 1929, M. Barnard Eldershaw, A House is Built, Chapter VIII, Section ii
  Nor were the wool prospects much better. The pastoral industry, which had weathered the severe depression of the early forties by recourse to boiling down the sheep for their tallow, and was now firmly re-established as the staple industry of the colony, was threatened once more with eclipse.
- 1943, Fredric Brown, "The Geezenstacks"
  Aubrey was rapturous. All her other playthings went into eclipse and the doings of the Geezenstacks occupied most of her waking thoughts.

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

passage of a planetary object between others

Afrikaans: verduistering
Albanian: errësirë (sq)
Arabic: كُسُوف‎ m (kusūf), خُسُوف‎ m (ḵusūf)
Armenian: խավարում (hy) (xavarum)
Asturian: eclipse m
Azerbaijani: tutulma
Basque: eklipse
Belarusian: зацьме́нне n (zacʹmjénnje)
Bengali: অন্ধকার (bn) (ondhokar)
Bikol Central: kulop, bakunawa
Breton: ^{(please verify)} fallaenn f, ^{(please verify)} gwaskadenn (br) f
Bulgarian: затъмнение (bg) n (zatǎmnenie)
Catalan: eclipsi (ca) m
Cebuano: bakunawa
Chinese:
Mandarin: (solar) 日食 (zh) (rìshí), (variant form) 日蝕／日蚀 (zh) (rìshí), (lunar) 月食 (zh) (yuèshí), (variant form) 月蝕／月蚀 (zh) (yuèshí)
Crimean Tatar: tutuluv
Czech: zatmění (cs) n
Danish: formørkelse (da) c
Dutch: verduistering (nl) f, eclips (nl) m
Esperanto: eklipso
Estonian: varjutus
Finnish: pimennys (fi)
French: éclipse (fr) f
Old French: esclipsement m
Friulian: eclìs f
Galician: eclipse (gl) m
Georgian: დაბნელება (dabneleba)
German: Finsternis (de) f, Eklipse (de) f, (solar) Sonnenfinsternis (de) f, (lunar) Mondfinsternis (de) f, Verdunklung f
Greek: εκλείψη f (ekleípsi)
Ancient: ἔκλειψις f (ékleipsis)
Hausa: hùsūfī̀ m
Hebrew: ליקוי מאורות‎ m (likui maorot)
Hindi: ग्रहण (hi) m (grahaṇ)
Hiligaynon: eklipse
Hungarian: fogyatkozás (hu)
Icelandic: myrkvi (is) m
Ido: eklipso (io)
Indonesian: gerhana (id), eklips (id)
Ingrian: pimehys
Iranun: lahu'
Irish: éiclips m, urú m
Italian: eclisse (it) f, eclissi (it) f
Japanese: 食 (ja) (shoku), 蝕 (ja) (shoku), (solar) 日食 (ja) (にっしょく, nisshoku), (lunar) 月食 (ja) (げっしょく, gesshoku)
Kabuverdianu: ^{(please verify)} eklipsi
Khmer: គ្រាស (km) (kriəh)
Konkani: ग्राण
Korean: 식현상 (sikhyeonsang)
Latin: eclīpsis m
Latvian: aptumsums m
Lithuanian: užtemimas m
Malay: gerhana (ms)
Malayalam: ഗ്രഹണം (ml) (grahaṇaṃ)
Maltese: eklissi m, kifsa f
Maori: whenumitanga, rā kutia, whenumanga
Maranao: garahana
Marathi: ग्रहण m (grahaṇ)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: хиртэлт (xirtelt), хиртэх (mn) (xirtex) (Inner Mongolia)

Mongolian: ᠭᠬᠢᠷᠲᠦᠯᠲᠡ (ɣqirtülte), ᠭᠬᠢᠷᠲᠦᠬᠦ (ɣqirtükü)
Nahuatl: cualo
Navajo: ałneʼííʼáázh
Nepali: ग्रहण (ne) (grahaṇ)
Norman: êclyipse f (Jersey)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: formørkelse m

Nynorsk: formørking f
Occitan: eclipsi (oc) m
Old English: āsprungennes f
Persian: گرفت‎ (fa) (gereft)
Polish: zaćmienie (pl) n
Portuguese: eclipse (pt) m
Romanian: eclipsă (ro) f
Russian: затме́ние (ru) n (zatménije)
Sanskrit: उपराग (sa) m (uparāga), ग्रहण (sa) n (grahaṇa)
Santali: ᱜᱚᱦᱚᱱᱚ (gôhônô)
Scottish Gaelic: dubhadh m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: по̏мрчина f

Roman: pȍmrčina (sh) f
Slovak: zatmenie n
Slovene: mrk (sl) m
Spanish: eclipse (es) m
Swedish: förmörkelse (sv) c
Tagalog: eklipse, laho (tl), takip-silim (tl)
Tamil: கிரகணம் (ta) (kirakaṇam)
Telugu: గ్రహణము (te) (grahaṇamu)
Thai: คราส (th) (krâat), อุปราคา (th)
Turkish: tutulma (tr)
Ukrainian: зате́мнення f (zatémnennja)
Urdu: گرہن‎ m (grahan)
Vietnamese: thiên thực
Waray-waray: bakunawa
Welsh: diffyg (cy) m, eclips m
West Coast Bajau: kerau'
Yakut: өлүү (ölüü)
Yucatec Maya: chiʼib

VerbEdit

eclipse (third-person singular simple present eclipses, present participle eclipsing, simple past and past participle eclipsed)

(transitive) Of astronomical or atmospheric bodies, to cause an eclipse.
The Moon eclipsed the Sun.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 184:
  She turned to the casement on which the moon was shining; for the high wind had driven aside the clouds, whose huge dark masses threatened soon to eclipse the pale and dim circle of passing light.
(transitive, figurative) To overshadow; to be better or more noticeable than.
Synonym: upstage
- c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vi]:
  For, till I see them here, by doubtful fear / My joy of liberty is half eclips'd.
- 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 8:
  I wish I could prevail on Ethel to come up to London, if it were but for the sake of eclipsing her rival. I will stand godmother to the town's admiration, and promise and vow three things in its name:—first, that she will forget her faithless swain in the multitude of new ones; secondly, that she will be universally ran after; and, thirdly, that she will be brilliantly married.
- 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 25:
  The name of the eclipsing girl, whatever it was, has not been handed down; but she was envied by all as the first who enjoyed the luxury of a masculine partner that evening.
- 2005, Sean Campbell, Introducing Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 for developers (page 56)
  The Util.System namespace eclipses the top-level System namespace.
- 2007, Cincinnati Magazine (page 81)
  Everything about her year-old restaurant […] reflects her love of bringing people to the table for good, simple food that's not eclipsed by bells and whistles.
(Irish grammar) To undergo eclipsis.