umber Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an earth pigment
  2. noun a medium brown to dark-brown color
    coffee; deep brown; burnt umber; chocolate.
  3. adjective satellite of the color of any of various natural brown earth pigments

WordNet

Um"ber noun
Etymology
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.
Definitions
  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. (Zoöl.) 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. (Zoöl.) 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.
Um"ber adjective
Definitions
  1. 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 transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To color with umber; to shade or darken; as, to umber over one's face. B. Jonson.

Webster 1913