Umbershoot

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A portable canopy stretched over a frame and handle, used to shield a person from rain or sunlight
2. A handheld implement consisting of fabric stretched across a collapsible frame, carried for protection against wet or sunny weather
3. A personal sunshade or rain shield with a pole handle that can be opened and closed for convenient carrying

Etymology: "Umbershoot" is a blend of "umbrella" and "parachute," and it belongs to the same family of playful coinages as "bumbershoot," which is itself a blend of the same kind. The idea is simple: an umbrella that works like a parachute, so that it can break a fall or drift a person to the ground. Blends of this sort are made by fusing the front of one word with the back of another, so the shared sound pattern does the work. Here the first half is taken from "umbrella" and the second from "parachute," and the result is a word that describes the object in a single compressed form. Because the word is a blend rather than a long-established term, its meaning rests entirely on the two words it was built from. Its sibling "bumbershoot" follows the same pattern and shows how such playful formations can coexist, with each speaker or writer producing a variant that suits their own sense of humour.

Synonyms: umbrella