Etymograph

English

umber

Umber comes from Old French umbre ‘shade, shadow’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wnksrā-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wnksrā-1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEumbra2‘shadow’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400umbre2‘shade, shadow’
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600ombre2
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1598–1600umber2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin umbra
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English umber
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1598–1600, William Shakespeare, As You Like It: “I'll put myself in poor and mean attire, And…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wnksrā-Wiktionary, Latin umbrareconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEumbraWiktionary, English umber‘shadow’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400umbreWiktionary, English umber‘shade, shadow’
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600ombreWiktionary, English umber
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1598–1600umberWiktionary, English umber. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1598–1600, William Shakespeare, As You Like It: “I'll put myself in poor and mean attire, And…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wnksrā-

sombrero, 14 more

through Latin umbra ‘shadow’

sombre, ombre, umbrage, umbra, 17 more

Today it means

noun A brown clay, somewhat darker than ochre, which contains iron and manganese oxides.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “umber”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin umbra. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wnksrā- / umber

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