umbrella

Meanings

Noun

• Cloth-covered frame used for protection against rain or sun.
• Generally, anything that provides protection.
• Something that covers a wide range of concepts, purposes, groups, etc.
• The main body of a jellyfish, excluding the tentacles.
• An umbrella-shaped reflector with a white or silvery inner surface, used to diffuse a nearby light.
• Umbrella bridge, a bridge in more than one direction. An umbrella bridge was built over Oxford Circus in 1963 to allow traffic to drive over it while excavation took place below it to create a new ticket hall for the London Underground as part of construction of the Victoria Line.

Verb

• To cover or protect, as if by an umbrella.
• To form the dome shape of an open umbrella.
• To move like a jellyfish.

Related

Similar words

• bumbershoot, umbershoot
• brolly
• gamp
• parasol
• rain napper
• rainshade

Origin

• Borrowed from Italian ombrella, umbrella, dim. of ombra (or from a Late Latin or Medieval Latin umbrella), from Latin umbra.