sombra
Asturian
Alternative forms
Etymology
Ultimately from Latin umbra, through an intermediate Vulgar Latin form. Compare Spanish and Portuguese sombra.
Catalan
Alternative forms
- ombra (native)
Pronunciation
Noun
sombra f (plural sombres)
Usage notes
Found within Algherese and more generally as a Castilianism, coexisting in both cases with the native ombra. Regarded outside of Algherese as "inadmissible."
Further reading
- “sombra” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
- El Català de l'Alguer : un model d'àmbit restringit, Barcelona, 2003, →ISBN, page 58
- “sombra”, in Diccionari d'Alguerés, accessed 4 July 2022
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sɔ̃.bʁa/
Anagrams
Galician
Etymology
From Old Galician-Portuguese soonbra, perhaps from Latin sub (“under”) + umbra (“shadow”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsombɾa/
Noun
sombra m (plural sombras)
- shade
- 1845, Alberto Camino, O desconsolo:
- D’esta fontiña áa beira froleada
sentado áa sombra de un chorón estóu
doído o peito, á alma esconsolada
triste morrendo pouco a pouco vóu.- By the flowery side of this spring,
sitting in the shade of a weeping willow I am,
aching heart, disconsolate soul,
sad, little by little I die
- By the flowery side of this spring,
-
- shadow
- c1350, Kelvin M. Parker (ed.), Historia Troyana, page 50:
- estaua Paris adeante su a soonbra de hũ moy grande et forte rrobre
- Paris was ahead, under the shadow of a very large and strong oak tree
- estaua Paris adeante su a soonbra de hũ moy grande et forte rrobre
- 1880, Rosalía de Castro, Cantares Gallegos:
- Cando penso que te fuches,
negra sombra que me asombras,
ó pé dos meus cabezales
tornas facéndome mofa.
Cando maxino que es ida,
no mesmo sol te me amostras,
i eres a estrela que brila,
i eres o vento que zoa.
Si cantan, es ti que cantas,
si choran, es ti que choras,
i es o marmurio do río
i es a noite i es a aurora.
En todo estás e ti es todo,
pra min i en min mesma moras,
nin me abandonarás nunca,
sombra que sempre me asombras.
- When I think that you're gone,
dark shadow that shadows me,
at the feet of my bed
you return to mock me.
When I'm imagining you're gone,
in the sun itself you show yourself,
and you are the star that glitters
and you are the wind that howls.
if they sing, it's you, singing,
if they cry, it's you, crying,
and you are the river's murmur,
and you're the night, and you're the dawn.
Everywhere you're and you're everything,
for me and in myself you dwell,
but you'll never left me alone,
shadow that always shadows me.
- When I think that you're gone,
- c1350, Kelvin M. Parker (ed.), Historia Troyana, page 50:
- (folklore, supernatural) shadow, ghost
References
- “soonbra” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
- “soonbra” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
- “sombra” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
- “sombra” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
- “sombra” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
Portuguese

Etymology
From Old Galician-Portuguese soombra, of uncertain origin, but ultimately containing Latin umbra (“shadow”). Possible etymologies include:
- from Old Galician-Portuguese soombrar, from Vulgar Latin *subumbrāre (“to shadow”), from Latin sub + umbrāre, from umbra (“shadow”).[1]
- from Old Spanish solombra, from Vulgar Latin *solumbra, from Latin sub illā umbrā (literally “under that shadow”).[2]
- from Latin umbra (“shadow”), influenced by Old Galician-Portuguese sol (“sun, sunshine”).[1]
Cognate with Galician, Asturian, and Spanish sombra, solombra, Mirandese selombra, French sombre and possibly with Dalmatian sombreja and Romansch sumbreiva. Ultimately possibly from Old Latin *omra, possibly from a Proto-Indo-European *h₂mr-u-, *h₂mrup-.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsõ.bɾɐ/
- Hyphenation: som‧bra
Noun
sombra f (plural sombras)
- shadow
- shade
- Fique na sombra.
- Stay in the shade.
- Não há luz sem sombra.
- There's no light without a shadow.
- (figurative) a negative aspect of something
- O tempo na cadeia é uma sombra do seu passado.
- The time spent in jail is a shadow from his past.
- a faint silhouette
- Vimos uma sombra passar pela janela.
- We saw a shadow passing by the window.
- Synonym: vulto
- trace, hint (a very small amount, especially of something abstract)
- Sem sombra de dúvida.
- Without a shadow of doubt.
- Synonym: fantasma
- shade
- eye shadow (makeup applied to the eyelids)
- (painting, drawing) the darker parts of an image
- (figurative) copycat (one who imitates someone without adding ingenuity)
Derived terms
- à sombra de
- sombra de dúvida
- sombreiro
- sombrinha
References
- Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval http://sli.uvigo.es/DDGM/ddd_pescuda.php?pescuda=sombra&tipo_busca=lema
- Infopedia http://www.infopedia.pt/pesquisa-global/sombra
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsombɾa/ [ˈsõm.bɾa]
- Rhymes: -ombɾa
- Syllabification: som‧bra
Etymology 1
Possibly from the verb sombrar (from Vulgar Latin *subumbrāre), or more likely from Latin umbra (“shade, shadow”), possibly altered by influence from sol (“sun”) (cf. Old Spanish solombra (literally “sunshade”)) or the Latin prefix sub-. An alternative explanation for this form is a Latin construction sub illa umbra (“under that shade”). Ultimately possibly from Old Latin *omra, possibly from a Proto-Indo-European *h₂mr-u-, *h₂mrup-.
Derived terms
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
sombra
- inflection of sombrar:
- third-person singular present indicative
- second-person singular imperative
Further reading
- “sombra”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014