overshadow

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English[edit]

WOTD – 21 February 2008

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English overshadwen, overshadewen, from Old English ofersċeadwian (“to overshadow”), equivalent to over- +‎ shadow. Cognate with West Frisian oerskaduwe (“to overshadow”), Dutch overschaduwen (“to overshadow”), German überschatten (“to overshadow”), Gothic 𐌿𐍆𐌰𐍂𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌳𐍅𐌾𐌰𐌽 (ufarskadwjan, “to overshadow”). Compare also Old Norse yfirskyggja (“to overshadow”), Danish overskygge (“to overshadow”), Swedish överskugga (“to overshadow”), Old English ofersċūwan (“to overshadow”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

overshadow (third-person singular simple present overshadows, present participle overshadowing, simple past and past participle overshadowed)

  1. (transitive) To obscure something by casting a shadow.
  2. (transitive) To dominate something and make it seem insignificant.
    • 1951 August, P. W. Gentry, “Cliff Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 514:
      A branch of rail transport that seems to been rather neglected by historians is that concerned with cliff railways, of which a fair number exist in Great Britain. This is probably because these lines are overshadowed by the more spectacular funicular railways in Switzerland and other mountainous regions; perhaps, too, because of the general habit of referring to them as "cliff lifts," which tends to associate them with the vertical indoor type.
    • 2017 August 13, Brandon Nowalk, “Oldtown offers one last game-changing secret as Game Of Thrones goes behind enemy lines (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club‎[1]:
      It’s surely consequential that Jon has a claim to the throne, whether he knows about it or not, but all of that is overshadowed by his immediate circumstances, which are that Jon Snow is leading a raiding party beyond the Wall to kidnap a wight.
  3. (transitive) To shelter or protect.

Synonyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

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