shadow

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   refuge from danger or observation

   They felt secure in their parent's shadow.

2. 2
   noun

   a premonition of something adverse

   The shadow loomed over their future.

3. 3
   noun

   an inseparable companion

   The poor child was their parent's shadow.

4. 4
   noun

   a dominating and pervasive presence

   The kids received little recognition working in the shadow of their famous parents.

5. 5
   verb

   follow, usually without the person's knowledge

   The police are shadowing her

6. 6
   noun

   A dark image projected onto a surface where light (or other radiation) is blocked by the shade of an object.

   My shadow lengthened as the sun began to set.

7. 7
   noun

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

   I immediately jumped into shadow as I saw them approach.

8. 8
   noun

   An area protected by an obstacle (likened to an object blocking out sunlight).

   The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems and cast a "shadow" of dryness behind them.

Etymology

From Middle English schadowe, schadewe, schadwe (also schade > shade), from Old English sċeaduwe, sċeadwe, oblique form of sċeadu (“shadow, shade; darkness; protection”), from Proto-West Germanic *skadu, from Proto-Germanic *skaduz (“shade, shadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- (“darkness”). Cognates Cognate with Scots shedda (“shadow”), Saterland Frisian Skaad, Skade (“shade, shadow”), West Frisian skaad, skâd (“shade, shadow”), Central Franconian and Limburgish Schatte (“shadow”), Dutch schade, schaduw (“shadow”), German Schatten (“shade, shadow”), German Low German Scharr, Scharre (“…