ombrifuge
UK/ˈɒm.bɹɪ.fjuːd͡ʒ/US/ˈɑm.bɹɪ.fjud͡ʒ/
ombrifuge noun: a refuge from rain, especially an umbrella.
Noun
ombrifuge (plural not attested)
- A refuge from rain, especially an umbrella.
- The belfry proves a fortress of a sort, / Has other uses than to teach the hour, / Turns sunscreen, paravent and ombrifuge.1869, Robert Browning, “The Pope” (chapter X), in The Ring and the Book, volume IV, Smith, Elder & Co., page 21, line 465
- And so forth; and, complete with hat and gloves, / One on and one a-dangle i, my hand, / And ombrifuge (Lord love you !), case o' rain, / I flopped forth, 'sbuddikins! on my own ten toes, […]1872, Charles Stuart Calverley, “The Cock and the Bull”, in Fly Leaves, 3rd edition, New York: Henry Holt and Company, page 115
Examples of ombrifuge in a sentence
- And truly a very remarkable year was that, well-nigh two centuries ago, when the first Ombrifuge, or Umbrella, was unfurled in London Streets.1897 September, “Hats And Hat-Worship”, in Macmillan's Magazine, volume LXXVI, number 455, page 344, column 2:
- To some their silken hats are dear, to some / Their overcoats of astrakhan or fur, / To me my ombrifuge, my childhood's chum. / He said, " I will inquire about it, Sir."1911 March 8, E. G. V. Knox [i.e., E. V. Knox], “Not Cricket: The Scandalous Affair of My Umbrella”, in Punch, or The London Charivari...
- Or be seated like an Infanta beneath a silk Ombrifuge, canopied from the glorious Light?2002 [2001], John Fuller, chapter 3, in The Memoirs of Laetitia Horsepole, by Herself, Great Britain: Vintage, page 89:
Origin of ombrifuge
Possibly a blend of ombro- + refuge or directly from ombro- + -i- + -fuge. Known to be first used by Robert Browning in 1869.
Questions about ombrifuge
- What does ombrifuge mean?
- Ombrifuge means a refuge from rain, especially an umbrella.
- How do you use ombrifuge in a sentence?
- And truly a very remarkable year was that, well-nigh two centuries ago, when the first Ombrifuge, or Umbrella, was unfurled in London Streets.
- What part of speech is ombrifuge?
- Ombrifuge is a noun.
- How do you pronounce ombrifuge?
- Ombrifuge is pronounced /ˈɒm.bɹɪ.fjuːd͡ʒ/ (UK).
Words near ombrifuge in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ombrifuge (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “ombrifuge.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ombrifuge. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.