Word.ws English Dictionary

umbra versa

UK/ˈʌmbɹə ˈvɜːsə/

umbra versa noun: on a shadow in the shape of a right triangle, the length of the shadow's edge opposite to a measured angle.

Noun

umbra versa

  1. On a shadow in the shape of a right triangle, the length of the shadow's edge opposite to a measured angle.
    • Scheubelius a great Mathematician, but by book only, and not by practice who being required ſometime in an Army to make uſe of his Quadrant, knew not the difference between umbra recta, and umbra verſa.1688, John Hales, “The Rich man’s Recepiſti”, in Golden Remains, 3rd edition, page 77
    Synonyms:
    umbra stans

Synonyms of umbra versa

  • umbra stans

Origin of umbra versa

First attested in Modern English in 1688, although the phrase was also used in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343–1400) in his Treatise on the Astrolabe; Latin: umbra (“shadow”) + versa (feminine nominative singular of versus, “turned”) = “turned shadow”; compare umbra recta.

Questions about umbra versa

What does umbra versa mean?
Umbra versa means on a shadow in the shape of a right triangle, the length of the shadow's edge opposite to a measured angle.
What part of speech is umbra versa?
Umbra versa is a noun.
How do you pronounce umbra versa?
Umbra versa is pronounced /ˈʌmbɹə ˈvɜːsə/ (UK).

Words near umbra versa in the dictionary

  1. umbos
  2. umboth
  3. umbozerite
  4. umbra
  5. umbra recta
  6. umbra versa
  7. umbracious
  8. umbracula
  9. umbracular
  10. umbraculate
  11. umbraculid

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: umbra versa (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.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “umbra versa.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/umbra_versa. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.