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Webster 1913 Edition

Umber

Um′ber

,
Noun.
[F.
ombre
ocherous ore of iron,
terre d’ombre
, It.
terra d'ombra
, literally, earth of shadow or shade, L.
umbra
shadow, shade. Cf.
Umber
, 3 & 4,
Umbrage
.]
1.
(Paint.)
A brown or reddish pigment used in both oil and water colors, obtained from certain natural clays variously colored by the oxides of iron and manganese. It is commonly heated or burned before being used, and is then called
burnt umber
; when not heated, it is called
raw umber
. See
Burnt umber
, below.
2.
An umbrere.
[Obs.]
3.
[F.
ombre
,
umbre
, L.
umbra
.]
(Zool.)
See
Grayling
, 1.
4.
[Cf. NL.
scopus umbretta
, F.
ombrette
; probably fr. L.
umbra
shade, in allusion to its dark brown color. See
Umber
a pigment.]
(Zool.)
An African wading bird (
Scopus umbretta
) allied to the storks and herons. It is dull dusky brown, and has a large occipital crest. Called also
umbrette
,
umbre
, and
umber bird
.
Burnt umber
(Paint.)
,
a pigment made by burning raw umber, which is changed by this process from an olive brown to a bright reddish brown.
–
Cologne umber
, or
German umber
,
a brown pigment obtained from lignite. See
Cologne earth
.

Um′ber

,
Adj.
Of or pertaining to umber; resembling umber; olive-brown; dark brown; dark; dusky.
Their harps are of the
umber
shade
That hides the blush of waking day.
J. R. Drake.

Um′ber

,
Verb.
T.
To color with umber; to shade or darken;
as, to
umber
over one's face
.
B. Jonson.

Webster 1828 Edition

Umber

UM'BER

,
Noun.
In natural history, an ore of iron, a fossil of a brown, yellowish, or blackish brown color, so called from Ombria in Italy, where it was first obtained. It is used in painting. A specimen from Cyprus afforded, of a hundred parts, 48 parts of oxyd of iron, 20 of oxyd of manganese, the remainder silex, alumin and water.

UM'BER

,
Noun.
A fowl of Africa, called the African crow.
The Scopus umbretta, a fowl of the grallic order, inhabiting Africa.

UM'BER

,
Noun.
A fish of the truttaceous kind, called the grayling, or thymallus; a fresh water fish of a fine taste.

UM'BER

,
Verb.
T.
To color with umber; to shade or darken.

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