eclipse
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: astronomy
biology
grammar
human-sciences
linguistics
natural-sciences
ornithology
sciences
Etymology: From Middle English eclipse, from Old French eclipse, from Latin eclīpsis, from Ancient Greek ἔκλειψις (ékleipsis, “eclipse”), from ἐκλείπω (ekleípō, “to abandon, go missing, vanish”), from ἐκ (ek, “out”) and λείπω (leípō, “to leave behind”). Doublet of eclipsis.
Inflected forms:
form: eclipses
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: eclipses
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: eclipsing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: eclipsed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: eclipsed
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: An alignment of astronomical objects whereby one object comes between the observer (or notional observer) and another object, thus obscuring the latter.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: Especially, an alignment whereby a planetary object (for example, the Moon) comes between the Sun and another planetary object (for example, the Earth), resulting in a shadow being cast by the middle planetary object onto the other planetary object.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: A seasonal state of plumage in some birds, notably ducks, adopted temporarily after the breeding season and characterised by a dull and scruffy appearance.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: Obscurity, decline, downfall.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: a. 1618, Walter Raleigh, quoted in Eclipse, entry in 1805, Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, Volume 2, unnumbered page,
All the posterity of our first parents suffered a perpetual eclipse of spiritual life.
As in the soft and sweet eclipse,
 When soul meets soul on lovers' lips.
Nor were the wool prospects much better. The pastoral industry, which had weathered the severe depression of the early forties by recourse to boiling down the sheep for their tallow, and was now firmly re-established as the staple industry of the colony, was threatened once more with eclipse.
Aubrey was rapturous. All her other playthings went into eclipse and the doings of the Geezenstacks occupied most of her waking thoughts.
From the standpoint of the Buddhist historian, it would be futile to attempt to distinguish, on the basis of doctrine, between the T’ien-t’ai Buddhism of the Sui and the various T’ang schools, since they share common ideals. Yet despite the “T’ang” character of the T’ien-t’ai school, it entered an almost total eclipse during the first half of the T’ang dynasty.
gloss: Of astronomical or atmospheric bodies, to cause an eclipse.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: The Moon eclipsed the Sun.
She turned to the casement on which the moon was shining; for the high wind had driven aside the clouds, whose huge dark masses threatened soon to eclipse the pale and dim circle of passing light.
gloss: To overshadow; to be better or more noticeable than.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
transitive
examples: For, till I see them here, by doubtful fear / My joy of liberty is half eclips'd.
[H]is ſupercilious glances grevv humbled, yea, his dazeling ſplendor (eclipſt in the ſetting [i.e., death] of his Maſter) becomes quickly darkned: […]
I wish I could prevail on Ethel to come up to London, if it were but for the sake of eclipsing her rival. I will stand godmother to the town's admiration, and promise and vow three things in its name:—first, that she will forget her faithless swain in the multitude of new ones; secondly, that she will be universally ran after; and, thirdly, that she will be brilliantly married.
The name of the eclipsing girl, whatever it was, has not been handed down; but she was envied by all as the first who enjoyed the luxury of a masculine partner that evening.
The Util.System namespace eclipses the top-level System namespace.
Everything about her year-old restaurant […] reflects her love of bringing people to the table for good, simple food that's not eclipsed by bells and whistles.
gloss: To undergo eclipsis.
pos: verb
tags: Irish
Related words: eclipsis
ecliptic
ecliptical
🝵
🝶
occultation
syzygy
Derived words: annular eclipse
eclipse glasses
eclipselike
eclipse plumage
lunar eclipse
partial eclipse
solar eclipse
total eclipse
eclipsable
eclipser
noneclipsed
noneclipsing
uneclipsed
Translations: