sombra

See also: sombrá

Asturian

Alternative forms

• solombra
• selombra
• salombra

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin umbra, through an intermediate Vulgar Latin form. Compare Spanish and Portuguese sombra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsombɾa/ [ˈsõm.bɾa]
• Rhymes: -ombɾa
• Syllabification: som‧bra

Noun

sombra f (plural sombres)

1. shade, shadow

Further reading

• “sombra”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1ª edición, Academia de la Llingua Asturiana, 2000, →ISBN
• Xosé Lluis García Arias (2002–2004), “sombra”, in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana [General Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Spanish), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, →ISBN

Catalan

Alternative forms

• ombra (native)

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish sombra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈsom.bɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈsom.bɾa]
• (Alghero) IPA^(key): /ˈsom.bɾa/

Noun

sombra f (plural sombres)

1. (Castilianism, Alghero) shade
2. (Castilianism, Alghero) shadow
3. (Castilianism, Alghero) ghost

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, 4 July 2022 (last accessed)

Esperanto

Etymology

Etymology tree

Old French sombre

French sombrebor.

Esperanto sombra

From French sombre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsombra/
• Rhymes: -ombra
• Syllabification: som‧bra

Adjective

sombra (accusative singular sombran, plural sombraj, accusative plural sombrajn)

1. (poetic) sombre, melancholic

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɔ̃.bʁa/

Verb

sombra

1. third-person singular past historic of sombrer

Anagrams

• ombras

Galician

Alternative forms

• sóma, sôma (proscribed, literary)

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese soonbra, perhaps from Latin sub (“under”) + umbra (“shadow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsombɾa/ [ˈs̺om.bɾɐ]
• Rhymes: -ombɾa
• Hyphenation: som‧bra

Noun

sombra m (plural sombras)

1. 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

2. shadow
   • c. 1350, Kelvin M. Parker, editor, 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

   • 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.

3. (folklore, supernatural) shadow, ghost

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “soonbra”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “sombra”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “soonbra”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “sombra”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “sombra”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “sombra”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Portuguese

sombra

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”).
• from Old Spanish solombra, from Vulgar Latin *solumbra, from Latin sub illā umbrā (literally “under that shadow”).
• from Latin umbra (“shadow”), influenced by Old Galician-Portuguese sol (“sun, sunshine”).

Cognate with Galician, Asturian, and Spanish sombra, solombra, Mirandese selombra, French sombre and possibly with Dalmatian sombreja and Romansch sumbreiva.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsõ.bɾɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsõ.bɾɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsõ.bɾa/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsõ.bɾɐ/

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -õbɾɐ
• Hyphenation: som‧bra

Noun

sombra f (plural sombras)

1. shadow
   1. shade

      Não há luz sem sombra.

      There's no light without a shadow.

   2. a faint silhouette

      Vimos uma sombra passar pela janela.

      We saw a shadow passing by the window.

   3. (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.

   Synonym: vulto

   1. trace, hint (a very small amount, especially of something abstract)

      Sem sombra de dúvida.

      Without a shadow of doubt.

   Synonyms: traço, resquício

   1. tail (someone who closely and persistently follows another)
   2. (supernatural, fantasy) shade, ghost

   Synonym: fantasma

2. eye shadow (makeup applied to the eyelids)
3. (painting, drawing) the darker parts of an image
4. (figurative) copycat (one who imitates someone without adding ingenuity)

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “shade”): sol, luz, claridade
• (antonym(s) of “darker parts of an image”): luz

Derived terms

• à sombra de
• sombra de dúvida
• sombreiro
• sombrinha

Related terms

• assombrar
• sombrar
• sombreado
• sombrear

Descendants

• → Ambonese Malay: sombar
• → Indonesian: sombar
• → Manado Malay: sombar

Further reading

• “sombra”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “sombra”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsombɾa/ [ˈsõm.bɾa]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ombɾa
• Syllabification: som‧bra

The Cafe Central Coffee plaque, Calle Santa Maria, off Plaza de la Constitucion, Malaga

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”).

Noun

sombra f (plural sombras)

1. shadow (a dark image projected onto a surface where light (or other radiation) is blocked by the shade of an object)
2. shade (darkness where light, particularly sunlight, is blocked)

   Antonyms: luz, sol

3. shade, shadow (a small degree)

   sin sombra de duda ― without a shadow of a doubt

4. ghost, shade, phantom

   Synonym: fantasma

5. (art) shade (a color obtained by adding black)

Derived terms

• a la sombra
• asombrar
• hacer sombra
• libro de las sombras
• peaje en la sombra
• quien a buen árbol se arrima, buena sombra le cobija
• sol y sombra
• sombra de ojos
• sombra de toro
• sombra orográfica
• tendido de sombra

Related terms

• sombraje
• sombrear
• sombrero
• sombrilla
• sombrío

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

sombra

1. inflection of sombrar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “sombra”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Anagrams

• bromas