Eclipse

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ɪˈklɪps/

Definitions

1. The blocking of light from a celestial body by another body passing in front of it, or a sudden diminishment in power or prominence
2. A phenomenon where one heavenly body obscures another from view, or any abrupt decline in strength, visibility, or importance
3. An event in which one celestial object moves between another and an observer, causing temporary obscuration ; a reduction in the influence or visibility of a person or thing

Etymology: The Greek "ekleipsis" meant a failure or leaving-out, and in astronomy it came to mean a vanishing: the sun or moon going missing from the sky. The verb behind it, "ekleipein," combined "ek" (out) with "leipein" (to leave behind), so the core image is something stepping out of view and being left behind. The word reached English through Middle English, having passed through Old French and Latin along the way. Its close cousin "ellipsis," the omission of words in a sentence, comes from the same Greek root, which is why a missing piece of speech and a missing piece of sky share a family. The pair are doublets, two forms of one word that entered English by different routes, and "ellipse," the oval shape, is a relative too, though it arrived through a different Greek word with a similar sense of falling short.

Synonyms: obscuration, 遮蔽

Antonyms: illumination