different between shade vs obscurity

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: sh?d, IPA^(key): /?e?d/
• Rhymes: -e?d

Etymology 1

From Middle English schade, from Old English s?eadu, s?adu (“shadow; shade”), from Proto-West Germanic *skadu, from Proto-Germanic *skadwaz (“shadow; shade”). More at shadow.

Noun

shade (countable and uncountable, plural shades)

1. (uncountable) Darkness where light, particularly sunlight, is blocked.
2. (countable) Something that blocks light, particularly in a window.

3. (countable) A variety of a colour/color, in particular one obtained by adding black (compare tint).

   • Thus light and colours, as white, red, yellow, blue, with their several degrees or shades, and mixtures, as green, scarlet, purple, sea-green, and the rest, come in only by the eyes […]

4. (figuratively) A subtle variation in a concept.
   • 1823, Thomas De Quincey, Letters to a Young Man whose Education has been Neglected. No. V. On the English Notices of Kant

     new shades and combinations of thought
5. (figuratively) An aspect that is reminiscent of something.

6. A very small degree of a quantity, or variety of meaning
   • 1934, Agatha Christie, Miss Marple Tells a Story

     Mrs. Rhodes who (so I gathered from Mr. Petherick's careful language) was perhaps just a shade of a hypochondriac, had retired to bed immediately after dinner.

7. (chiefly literary and fantasy) A ghost or specter; a spirit.

   • Swift as thought the flitting shade / Thro' air his momentary journey made.
8. (countable) A postage stamp showing an obvious difference in colour/color to the original printing and needing a separate catalogue/catalog entry.
9. (uncountable, originally gay slang) Subtle insults.

Derived terms

• lampshade
• sunshade
• made in the shade
• nightshade
• shade carrier
• shadeful
• shadeless
• shadelessly
• shadiness
• shady

Translations

Etymology 2

From Old English sceadwian, derived from s?eadu (see above).

Verb

shade (third-person singular simple present shades, present participle shading, simple past and past participle shaded)

1. (transitive) To shield from light.

   The old oak tree shaded the lawn in the heat of the day.

2. (transitive) To alter slightly.

   You'll need to shade your shot slightly to the left.

   Most politicians will shade the truth if it helps them.

3. (intransitive) To vary or approach something slightly, particularly in color.

   The hillside was bright green, shading towards gold in the drier areas.

   • 1886, Edmund Gurney, Phantasms of the Living

     This small group will be most conveniently treated with the emotional division, into which it shades.

4. (intransitive, baseball, of a defensive player) To move slightly from one's normal fielding position.

   Jones will shade a little to the right on this pitch count.

5. (transitive) To darken, particularly in drawing.

   I draw contours first, gradually shading in midtones and shadows.

6. To surpass by a narrow margin.

   Both parties claimed afterwards that their man did best in the debate, but an early opinion poll suggested Mr Cameron shaded it.

7. (transitive, graphical user interface) To reduce (a window) so that only its title bar is visible.

   Antonym: unshade

8. (transitive, obsolete) To shelter; to cover from injury; to protect; to screen.
9. (transitive, obsolete) To present a shadow or image of; to shadow forth; to represent.

Derived terms

• beshade
• shader
• shading
• unshade
• unshaded

Translations

Related terms

• shadow
• shed

Anagrams

• Da'esh, Daesh, Desha, Hades, Shead, ashed, deash, hades, heads, sadhe

English

Etymology

From Middle French obscurité, from Latin obsc?rit?s; synchronically analyzable as obscure +? -ity

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?b?skj????ti/, /?b?skj????ti/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?b?skj???ti/, /?b?skj??ti/
• Hyphenation: ob?scur?ity

Noun

obscurity (countable and uncountable, plural obscurities)

1. (literary) Darkness; the absence of light.
   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, ch. 24

     I walked in, and Stroeve followed me. The room was in darkness. I could only see that it was an attic, with a sloping roof; and a faint glimmer, no more than a less profound obscurity, came from a skylight.

2. The state of being unknown; a thing that is unknown.
3. The quality of being difficult to understand; a thing that is difficult to understand.

Synonyms

• (the state of being unknown): unknownness

Antonyms

• (the state of being known): fame
• (the state of being clear): clarity

Related terms

• obscure

Translations