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Origin and history of umber

umber(n.)

brown earthy pigment, darker and browner than ochre, 1560s, from French ombre (in terre d'ombre), or Italian ombra (in terra di ombra), both from Latin umbra "shade, shadow" (see umbrage) or else from Umbra, fem. of Umber "belonging to Umbria," region in central Italy from which the coloring matter probably first came (compare sienna). Related: Umbery.

Burnt umber, specially prepared and redder in color, is attested by 1640s, distinguished from raw umber.

Earlier umber, ombre was used in Middle English as "shadow, shade," also figurative (c. 1300).

also from 1560s

Entries linking to umber

sienna(n.)

brownish-ochre color, by 1760 (terra-sienna), from Italian terra di Sienna "earth of Siena," region in Italy where the coloring material first was produced from a type of earth mined there. It is used as a pigment in both oil and watercolor painting. See Siena.

Burnt sienna is the raw material roasted in a furnace before powdering. By this means the color is changed to a warm reddish brown similar to old mahogany. It is, like raw sienna, translucent in body. [Century Dictionary]
umbrage(n.)

early 15c., "shadow, darkness, shade" (senses now obsolete), from Old French ombrage "shade, shadow," from noun use of Latin umbraticum "of or pertaining to shade; being in retirement," neuter of umbraticus "of or pertaining to shade," from umbra "shade, shadow," from PIE root *andho- "blind; dark" (source also of Sanskrit andha-, Avestan anda- "blind, dark").

Especially shade from the foliage of trees. The word had many figurative uses in 17c.; the meaning "suspicion that one has been slighted," is recorded by 1610s from the notion of being "overshadowed" by another and consigned to obscurity.

Hence phrase take umbrage at, attested by 1670s. Compare modern (by 2013) slang verbal phrase throw shade "(subtly) insult (something or someone)."

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    Trends of umber

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

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    coffee
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    brown
    Old English brun "dark, dusky," developing a definite color sense from 13c., from Proto-Germanic *brunaz (source also of Old Norse brunn, Danish brun, Old Frisian and Old High German brun, Dutch bruin, German braun), from PIE root *bher- (2) "bright; brown." The Old English word
    ombre
    card game originating in Spain and popular late 17c. and early 18c., 1650s, from French hombre, ombre (17c.), or directly from Spanish hombre, literally "man" (see hombre). So called from an expression (translatable as "I am the man") spoken in the course of the game. Played usua
    raw
    Middle English raue, from Old English hreaw, hreow "uncooked," from Proto-Germanic *khrawaz (source also of Old Norse hrar, Danish raa, Old Saxon hra, Middle Dutch rau, Dutch rauw, Old High German hrawer, German roh), from PIE root *kreue- "raw flesh." Of skin, "tender, sore, abr
    deep
    Old English deop "having considerable extension downward," especially as measured from the top or surface, also figuratively, "profound, awful, mysterious; serious, solemn," from Proto-Germanic *deupaz (source also of Old Saxon diop, Old Frisian diap, Dutch diep, Old High German
    burnt
    late 14c., "consumed or scorched by fire," past-participle adjective from the original past participle of burn (v.), which was displaced after 16c, by burned. Burnt offering "animal burned whole upon an altar in Jewish ritual" is from late 14c., a biblical phrase (see Exodus xx.2
    salvation
    c. 1200, savacioun, saluatiun, sauvacioun, etc., originally in the Christian sense, "the saving of the soul, deliverance from the power of sin and admission to eternal bliss," from Old French salvaciun and directly from Late Latin salvationem (nominative salvatio, a Church Latin
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    "police informer," 1859, American English; earlier "one who betrays the unwary (or is used to betray them)," 1821, earlier "a decoy bird" (1812), from a stool as the movable pole or perch to which a pigeon was fastened to lure wild birds. Perhaps a stool was the original device,
    lord
    mid-13c., laverd, loverd, from Old English hlaford "master of a household, ruler, feudal lord, superior; husband," also "God," translating Latin dominus, Greek kyrios in the New Testament, Hebrew yahweh in the Old (though Old English dryhten was more frequent). Old English hlafor

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