sombre
English
Etymology
Borrowed from French sombre (“dark”), from Old French sombre, from a verb *sombrer or Latin sub- + umbra. Compare Spanish sombra (“shade; dark part of a picture; ghost”).[1][2]
Pronunciation
Adjective
sombre (comparative sombrer, superlative sombrest) (UK, Canada)
- Dark; gloomy; shadowy, dimly lit.
- 2015, Hermann Kauders, Before The Cock Crows (→ISBN), page 9:
- The lady led him into a sombre hallway and disappeared. A moment later the windowless chamber was illuminated by the entry of a heavenly creature emitting a radiance prone to pierce the heart of any youth exposed to it.
- 2015, Hermann Kauders, Before The Cock Crows (→ISBN), page 9:
- Dull or dark in colour or brightness.
- 1877, The Black Band; or, The Mysteries of Midnight, page 47:
- His tall and slender figure, dressed in sombre black, his hair of that peculiar reddish auburn so rarely seen, his flashing black eyes, in which a fitful fire seemed for ever burning; all combined to give something almost of a demoniac air ...
- 1877, The Black Band; or, The Mysteries of Midnight, page 47:
- Melancholy, gloomy, dreary, dismal; grim.
- (Can we date this quote by Beaconsfield and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- The dinner was silent and sombre; happily it was also short.
- 2012, Peter Turnbull, Aftermath, Severn House Publishers Ltd (→ISBN)
- A sombre mood, very sombre in fact, thought Hennessey, as he stood against the wall observing the procedure for the police. He had not known a mood more sombre to have previously descended on the room.
- (Can we date this quote by Beaconsfield and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- Grave; extremely serious.
- a sombre situation
Alternative forms
- somber (US)
Synonyms
Translations
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Noun
sombre (uncountable)
Verb
sombre (third-person singular simple present sombres, present participle sombring, simple past and past participle sombred)
- To make sombre or dark; to make shady.
References
- ^ “sombre”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “sombre”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- “sombre”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Anagrams
French
Etymology
From Old French sombre, from a verb *sombrer (from a Vulgar Latin *subumbrāre), or from Latin sub + umbra. Cf. also Spanish and Portuguese sombra (“shadow”), likely with influence from sol (“sun”). See also Old French essombre, with a different prefix.
Pronunciation
Adjective
sombre (plural sombres)
Synonyms
Antonyms
Verb
sombre
- first-person singular present indicative of sombrer
- third-person singular present indicative of sombrer
- first-person singular present subjunctive of sombrer
- third-person singular present subjunctive of sombrer
- second-person singular imperative of sombrer
Further reading
- “sombre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
Norman
Etymology
From Old French sombre, from a verb *sombrer (from a Vulgar Latin *subumbrāre), or from Latin sub (“under”) + umbra (“shadow”).
Adjective
sombre m or f
Spanish
Verb
sombre
- English terms borrowed from French
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- Norman terms inherited from Old French
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- Spanish forms of verbs ending in -ar