Umbrella Meaning
/ʌmˈbɹɛl.ə/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA cloth-covered frame used for protection against rain or sun.
nounAnything that provides similar protection.
Sentence Examples
You had better take an umbrella with you.
I left your umbrella in the bus.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
She opened her ____ to protect herself from the heavy rain outside.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please don't forget to take your ____ with you this afternoon, as the weather forecast says it might start raining today.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Italian ombrella (“parasol, sunshade”), from Late Latin umbrella (influenced by umbra (“shadow, shade”)), from Latin umbella, from umbra + -la (diminutive suffix).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 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:
"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."
— 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 197:
"Using umbrellas for shooting a wedding party is ok, but not necessary."
— 2014, Michael Allen, Modern Wedding Photography, page 97:
"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."
— 1944, Emily Carr, “Life Loves Living”, in The House of All Sorts:
"Huge pine and eucalyptus umbrellaed the grounds, airconditioning the morning."
— 2008, Jonathan Kellerman, Bad Love: Alex Delaware 8:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She opened her ____ to protect herself from the heavy rain outside.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please don't forget to take your ____ with you this afternoon, as the weather forecast says it might start raining today.