n.
- a device consisting of a circular fabric canopy on a folding metal frame supported by a central rod, used as protection against rain.
- a protecting force or influence.
▸a screen of fighter aircraft or anti-aircraft artillery.
-
[usu. as modifier]
a thing that includes or contains many different parts:
an umbrella organization.
- Zoology the gelatinous disc of a jellyfish, which it contracts and expands to move through the water.
Derivative
Etymology
C17: from Ital. ombrella, dimin. of ombra ‘shade’, from L. umbra ‘shadow’.