eclipse

CEFRB2

/ɪˈklɪps/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    An event when one space object blocks another's light.

  2. 02

    verb

    To make someone or something seem less important or successful.

Examples

  • An eclipse of the moon is a rare phenomenon.

  • An eclipse of the sun is a rare appearance.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
1

Also pronounced

  • /iˈklɪps/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A seasonal state of plumage in some birds, notably ducks, adopted temporarily after the breeding season and characterised by a dull and scruffy appearance.

  2. 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.

  3. An alignment of astronomical objects whereby one object comes between the observer (or notional observer) and another object, thus obscuring the latter.

More examples

In context

  • The Moon eclipsed the Sun.

  • 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.

  • As in the soft and sweet eclipse, When soul meets soul on lovers' lips.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Farmers worried the total solar blank would harm their crops and livestock.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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