“shadows” is a form of
shadow
/ˈʃædəʊ̯/ noun, adjective, verb, proper noun
Forms shadows shadowing shadowed
- 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.”
- noun Relative darkness, especially as caused by the interruption of light; gloom; obscurity. “I immediately jumped into shadow as I saw them approach.”
- 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.”
- noun (obsolete or poetic) A reflected image, as in a mirror or in water.
- noun (figurative) That which looms as though a shadow. “I lived in her shadow my whole life.”
- noun (chiefly in the negative) A small degree; a shade. “He did not give even a shadow of respect to the professor.”
- noun An imperfect and faint representation. “He came back from war the shadow of a man.”
- noun (UK, law enforcement) A trainee, assigned to work with an experienced officer.
- adjective Unofficial, informal, unauthorized, but acting as though it were. “The human resources department has a shadow information technology group without headquarters knowledge.”
- adjective Having power or influence, but not widely known or recognized.
- adjective (Commonwealth, politics) Part of, or related to, the opposition in government.
- adjective (US, politics) Acting in a leadership role before being formally recognized.
- verb (transitive) To shade, cloud, or darken. “The artist chose to shadow this corner of the painting.”
- verb (transitive) To block light or radio transmission from. “Looks like that cloud's going to shadow us.”
- verb (particularly espionage) To secretly or discreetly track or follow another, to keep under surveillance.
- verb (transitive) To represent faintly and imperfectly.
- verb (transitive) To hide; to conceal.
- verb (transitive, intransitive) To accompany (a professional) during the working day, so as to learn about an occupation one intends to take up.
- verb (transitive, programming) To make (an identifier, usually a variable) inaccessible by declaring another of the same name within the scope of the first.
- verb (transitive, computing) To apply the shadowing process to (the contents of ROM).
Synonyms
umbra darkness dark apparition phantom phantasm phantasma fantasm trace vestige tincture tail shadower shade shade off overshadow dwarf
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”). Doublet of shade.
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 (“shade, shadow”), Luxembourgish Schiet (“shade, shadow”), Vilamovian siota (“shadow”), Yiddish שאָטן (shotn, “shadow”), Faroese skadda (“thick wet mountain fog”), Icelandic skodda, skoddi (“shadow”), Norwegian Bokmål skodde (“fog, mist”), Norwegian Nynorsk skodde, skåddj, skåidd (“fog; ice fog”), Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌳𐌿𐍃 (skadus, “shadow”); also Breton skeud (“shadow; reflection; ghost”), Cornish skeus (“shadow; reflection”), Irish scáth (“shadow”), Manx scaa, skæ (“shield; shade, shadow”), Scottish Gaelic sgàth (“shade, shadow”), Latin obscurus (“dark, dusky, shadowy”), Ancient Greek σκότος (skótos, “darkness, gloom”) (whence English scoto-), Belarusian сівы́ (sivý, “grey”), Czech and Slovak sivý (“grey”), Macedonian осој (osoj, “shady place”), Polish siwy (“grey”), Russian си́вый (sívyj, “grey”), Serbo-Croatian сив, siv (“grey”), Slovene osoja (“shady place”), Ukrainian си́вий (sývyj, “grey”), Armenian սեաւ (seaw), սեւ (sew, “black”), Ossetian сау (saw, “black”), Persian سه (sah), سیه (siyah), سیاه (siyâh, “black”), Sanskrit श्याम (śyāma, “black”), श्याव (śyāva, “dark”).
From Middle English schadowen, from Old English sċeadwian, from sċeadu (“shadow; shade”) + -ian (suffix forming verbs).
Webster’s 1913
- noun Shade within defined limits; obscurity or deprivation of light, apparent on a surface, and representing the form of the body which intercepts the rays of light; as, the shadow of a man, of a tree, or of a tower. See the Note under Shade, n., 1.
- noun Darkness; shade; obscurity.
- verb To cut off light from; to put in shade; to shade; to throw a shadow upon; to overspead with obscurity.
- verb To conceal; to hide; to screen. [R.]
Etymology [Originally the same word as shade. sq. root162. See Shade.]
Etymology [OE. shadowen, AS. sceadwian. See adow, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “shadow”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details