Adumbrate

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈædʌmˌbɹeɪt/

Definitions

1. To give a vague summary or indicate something in advance ; to cast a shadow or make something less visible or clear
2. To suggest or hint at the main features of an idea ahead of time ; to partially conceal or overshadow by casting a shadow
3. To describe or present something in a subtle, preliminary way ; to darken or obscure by covering or overshadowing

Etymology: The verb "adumbrate" carries a shadow in its very structure. Its Latin ancestor, "adumbrare," meant "to cast a shadow on," built from "ad-" (toward) and "umbra" (shadow). Painters and sketch-makers used the idea literally: to adumbrate was to lay down a faint, shaded outline of a figure before filling in its detail. The past participle "adumbratus" meant "represented in outline," and that sense of a sketch rendered only in broad strokes is the seed of the English meaning. English borrowed the word from that Latin participle, and the shift from drawing to suggestion happened along the way. A thing that is only outlined, or only shadowed, is seen imperfectly, so to adumbrate something came to mean giving a partial or vague indication of it rather than the full picture. Someone who adumbrates a plan reveals its general shape while keeping the particulars hidden.

Synonyms: foreshadow, presage, indicate, suggest, outline

Antonyms: clarify, elucidate, explain, illuminate, reveal