umbra
um·bra/ˈʌmbɹə/noun
umbra is spelled U-M-B-R-A: 5 letters and 2 syllables (um·bra). It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 60,074th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, umbra means “The fully shaded inner region of a shadow cast by an opaque object” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of umbra is umbras or umbrae; Wiktionary also lists umbræ (obsolete).
How many letters and syllables are in umbra?
| Letters | 5: U-M-B-R-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: um·bra |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 60,074th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is umbra?
Umbra appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 60,074th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce umbra?
- /ˈʌmbɹə/
Umbra has 2 syllables, split um·bra in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-umbra.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with umbra?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as umbra.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: rumba.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of umbra
- umbras plural
- umbrae plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does umbra mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The fully shaded inner region of a shadow cast by an opaque object.
- 2
The area on the earth or moon experiencing the total phase of an eclipse.
- 3
The central region of a sunspot.
- 4
A shadow.
- 5
archaicAn uninvited guest brought along by one who was invited.
- 6
One of the family Umbridae of mudminnows.
- 7
One of genus Umbrina of drums (family Sciaenidae).
- 8
An element of the umbral calculus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Umbra in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does umbra come from?
Borrowed from Latin umbra (“shadow”). Doublet of umber.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).