logo       

umbrage: msg#00008

culture.language.word-of-the-day

Subject: umbrage

****************************************************************
Looking for a new kind of post-holiday feeding frenzy?
Feast on a free trial to Merriam-Webster Unabridged!
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/unabridged_sub.pl?refr=U_wod
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for January 9 is:

umbrage \UM-brij\ noun
1 : shade, shadow
2 : shady branches : foliage
3 a : an indistinct indication : vague suggestion : hint b : a reason for
doubt : suspicion
*4 : a feeling of pique or resentment at some often fancied slight or
insult

Example sentence:
"He's not willing to pay for the A-list players we need to win a
championship," said one player of the team's owner, who, not surprisingly, took
umbrage at the statement.

Did you know?
"Deare amber lockes gave umbrage to her face." This line from a poem by
William Drummond, published in 1616, uses "umbrage" in its original sense of
"shade, shadow," a meaning shared by its Latin source, "umbra." ("Umbella," the
diminutive form of "umbra," means "a sunshade or parasol" in Latin and is an
ancestor of our word "umbrella.") Beginning in the early 17th century,
"umbrage" was also used to mean "a shadowy suggestion or semblance of
something," as when Shakespeare, in _Hamlet_, wrote, "His semblable is his
mirror, and who else would trace him, his umbrage, nothing more." In the same
century, "umbrage" took on the pejorative senses "a shadow of suspicion cast on
someone" and "displeasure, offense"; the latter is commonly used today in the
phrases "give umbrage" or "take umbrage."

* Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.







<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Google Custom Search

News | FAQ | advertise