shadow

English

Wikipedia

Shadows on the beach

Etymology

Old English sceaduwe, inflected form of sceadu ( > English shade).

Pronunciation

• enPR: shăd'ō, IPA: /ˈʃædəʊ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  Rhymes: -ædəʊ

Noun

shadow (plural shadows)

1. A dark image projected onto a surface where light is blocked by the shade of an object.

   My shadow lengthened as the sun began to set.

2. Relative darkness, especially as caused by the interruption of light; gloom, obscurity.

   I immediately jumped into shadow as I saw them approach.

3. That which looms as though a shadow.

   I don't have a shadow of doubt in my mind that my plan will succeed.

   The shadow of fear of my being outed always affects how I live my life.

   I lived in her shadow my whole life.

   • 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page vii

     Hepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose shadow falls over us all.

4. Merely a hint of substance.

   He came back from war the shadow of a man.

   He did not give even a shadow of respect to the professor.

5. One who secretly or furtively follows another.

   The constable was promoted to working as a shadow for the Royals.

6. A type of lettering form of word processors that makes a cubic effect.

Derived terms

• backshadowing
• foreshadowing
• rain shadow
• shadow acting
• shadow boxing
• shadow cabinet
• shadow government
• shadow minister
• shadow play
• sideshadowing

Translations

dark image projected onto a surface

Afrikaans: skaduwee Albanian: hije (sq) f. Arabic: ظل (ẓill) Moroccan: ضل (đll) Armenian: ստվեր (hy) (stver), շուք (hy) (šuk’) Azeri: kölgə (az) Basque: itzal, errainu, ilunune Bengali: ছায়া (bn), শ্যাডো (bn) Breton: skeud m. Bulgarian: сянка (bg) (sjanka) f. Catalan: ombra (ca) f. Central Atlas Tamazight: amalu m. Chamicuro: s̈ha'me Chinese: 陰影, 阴影 (yīnyǐng) Crimean Tatar: kölge Croatian: sjena (hr) f. Czech: stín (cs) m. Danish: skygge (da) Dutch: schaduw (nl) m. Esperanto: ombro (eo) Estonian: vari (et) Faroese: skuggi (fo) m. Finnish: varjo (fi) French: ombre (fr) f. Georgian: ჩრდილი (čʻrdili), აჩრდილი (ka) (ačrdili) German: Schatten (de) m. Greek: σκιά (el) (skiá) f., ίσκιοςf (el) (ískios) Gujarati: પડછાયો Haitian Creole: lonbraj Hawaiian: aka, huaka, ʻūmalu Hebrew: צל (tzel) m. Hindi: परछाई, छाया, मरीचिका Hungarian: árny (hu), árnyék (hu) Icelandic: skuggi (is) m. Indonesian: bayangan (id) Interlingua: umbra (ia) Irish: scáth (ga) m. Italian: ombra (it) f.

Japanese: 影 (kage), 陰影 (いんえい, in'ei) Korean: 그림자 (geurimja) Latin: umbra (la) f. Latvian: ēna Lithuanian: šešėlis Malay: bayang (ms) Maltese: dell (mt) Manx: scaa (gv), scadoo (gv) Norwegian: skygge (no) m. Occitan: ombra (oc) f. Ojibwe: agawaateshinong Old English: sceaduwe (ang) Persian: سايه Pitjantjatjara: wiltja, kaṉku Polish: cień (pl) m. Portuguese: sombra (pt) f. Punjabi: parchawan Romagnolo: òra f. Romanian: umbră (ro) Russian: тень (ten’) f. Scottish Gaelic: faileas (gd) m., dubhar (gd) m., sgàile (gd) f. Serbian: senka f., sena f. (poetic) Skolt Sami: ǩeeu´niǩ Slovak: tieň m., tôňa f. Slovene: senca (sl) f. Spanish: sombra (es) f. Swedish: skugga (sv) c. Tagalog: anino Tamil: நிழல் (ta) (niḻal) Telugu: నీడ (niida) Thai: เงามัว (ngao muaa), เงามืด (ngao mêut) Turkish: gölge (tr) Vietnamese: bóng, bóng tối Welsh: cysgod West Frisian: skaad n. Yiddish: שאָטן (shotn) m.

relative darkness

Czech: stín (cs) m. Dutch: schaduw (nl) m. Finnish: varjo (fi) French: ombre (fr) f.

Greek: σκιά (el) (skiá) f. Japanese: 陰 (kage) Korean: 그늘 (geuneul), 응달 (eungdal) Scottish Gaelic: faileas (gd) m., dubhar (gd) m.

one who secretly or furtively follows another

Bulgarian: преследвач (presledvač) m. Finnish: varjostaja (fi)

Greek: σκιά (el) (skiá) f., ίσκιοςf (el) (ískios) Slovene: senca (sl) f.

type of lettering form

Czech: stín (cs) m. Finnish: varjostus (fi) Greek: σκιά (el) (skiá) f.

Japanese: 影付き (ja) (kagetsuki) Portuguese: sombreado (pt) m.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Mongolian: сїїдэр (suuder) Icelandic: svæði í skuga n., forsæla f.

Telugu: ఛాయ (chaaya)

Verb

shadow (third-person singular simple present shadows, present participle shadowing, simple past and past participle shadowed)

1. To block light or radio transmission.

   Looks like that cloud's going to shadow us.

2. (espionage) To secretly or discreetly track or follow another, to keep under surveillance.
3. (programming) To make an identifier, usually a variable, inaccessible by declaring another of the same name within the scope of the first.

Derived terms

• overshadow

Translations

to block light or radio transmission

Czech: stínit (cs) Finnish: varjostaa (fi)

German: beschatten (de) Greek: επισκιάζω (el) (episkiázo), σκιάζω (el) (skiázo)

to secretly track or follow another

Czech: sledovat (cs) Esperanto: gvatsekvi (eo) Finnish: varjostaa (fi)

French: prendre en filature (fr), filer (fr) German: beschatten (de) Greek: παρακολουθώ (el) (parakolouthó), γίνομαι σκιά (el) (gínomai skiá)