umbrella
Pluralumbrellas
Pluralumbrellas
- 1A cloth-covered folding frame that protects you from rain or sun.
He left his umbrella on the train again this morning.
A row of striped umbrellas lined the edge of the beach.
UsageYou put up or open an umbrella, and stand under it.
Similarparasol, brolly, sunshade
Note
The household object behind every other sense. The word first meant a little shade, a parasol, and now covers rain gear too. Andrew Martin's history of the Tube (2012) records that umbrellas were once the items passengers lost most often.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- The early meaning was a little shade or parasol. en.wikipedia.org
- Andrew Martin's history of the Tube was first published in 2012. profilebooks.com
- Martin records that umbrellas were once the most frequently lost items. en.wiktionary.org
- 2A structure or grouping that brings a range of concepts, purposes, or groups together under one overarching cover.
The new foundation acts as an umbrella for dozens of independent research teams.
'Romance languages' serves as an umbrella covering French, Spanish, Italian, and several others.
UsageUsually under the umbrella of something, or before a noun: an umbrella term, an umbrella organization.
Similarframework, aegis, canopy
Note
Shelter has turned into scope: what sits under this umbrella is grouped, not guarded.
- 3Something that offers protection in the way a physical cover shields what is beneath it.
Diplomatic immunity served as an umbrella against any local prosecution.
The alliance gave smaller nations an umbrella of military security.
UsageOften an umbrella over or against something, as in a nuclear umbrella or an air umbrella.
Similarshield, protection, cover, shelter, safeguard
Note
Here the shelter is figurative, and the rain is usually a threat. Fighters can form an air umbrella over a battle group, and an alliance can hold an umbrella of security over smaller nations. Keep it apart from the "overarching category" meaning. This one protects what is under it, while that one only gathers it together.
Less common meanings
- 4A reflector shaped like an open umbrella, with a white or silver inner surface, used to diffuse a nearby light.
She bounced the flash off a reflective umbrella to soften the shadows on her subject.
Two umbrellas on either side of the set evened out the lighting.
Note
A photographer's tool for turning a hard light soft. The light is aimed into the umbrella's white or silver lining, and what comes back is broader and gentler, with softer shadows on the subject. Michael Allen's Modern Wedding Photography calls umbrellas "ok, but not necessary" for shooting a wedding party. That is a fair sense of their place: useful, not obligatory.
- 5The dome-shaped main body of a jellyfish, not including the trailing tentacles.
The translucent umbrella contracted rhythmically to push the animal upward.
Long stinging tentacles trail from the rim of the jellyfish's umbrella.
Similarbell
Note
The household shape lends its name to the jellyfish's dome, which is also described as a bell. The umbrella is the part that pulses: its contractions push water out and drive the animal along. That motion is why the word became a verb for jellyfish motion.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- The jellyfish body part is called an umbrella because of its shape. gutenberg.org
- The dome-shaped umbrella is also called a bell. sanbi.org
- Contractions of the jellyfish's umbrella expel water and propel the animal. utmsi.utexas.edu
- 6To cover or protect something, as if shielding it beneath an open umbrella.
Huge pine and eucalyptus umbrellaed the grounds, airconditioning the morning.
2008, Jonathan Kellerman, Bad Love: Alex Delaware 8 - 7To spread outward into the curved dome shape of an open umbrella.
Bright yellow gowns fit them tightly and umbrellaed from their waist to just below the knees.
2011, B. A. Rothwell, The Peaceful Queen - 8A power-play formation in ice hockey with three attackers in a high arc, one at the point and one on each half-wall, while the other two play low near the opposing net.
- 9To move with the rhythmic, pulsing drift characteristic of a jellyfish.
The light catches the filigreed tendrils and graceful motion of the jellies, their orange bodies umbrella-ing along like fairy parasols come to life.
1997, National Geographic Traveler
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Origin
This word was borrowed from Italian "ombrella" (meaning parasol or sunshade), a diminutive of "ombra" (shade): or possibly from a Late or Medieval Latin "umbrella." It ultimately traces back to Latin "umbra," meaning shadow.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- English umbrella was borrowed from Italian ombrella, meaning parasol or sunshade. en.wiktionary.org
- Ombrella is a diminutive of Italian ombra, meaning shade. gutenberg.org
- The ultimate Latin root is umbra, meaning shadow. en.wiktionary.org