adverb
to or toward that place or point; there.
The adverb thither 鈥渢o or toward that place or point; there鈥 is an old one in English. Its original form in Old English was 迟丑忙诲别谤, altered to thider (among other forms) due to hider. This adverb hider evolved into a word thither frequently appears together with: hither, as in hither and thither 鈥渉ere and there.鈥 Thither was largely replaced by there (as hither was by here). If you go back far enough in time, you鈥檒l find that thither and there share a common root, as do many humble English function words beginning with th-, including that, this, and the.
We told them that we were travelling, that we had been transported thither, and that they had nothing to fear from us.
He was a thorough-going old Tory … who seldom himself went near the metropolis, unless called thither by some occasion of cattle-showing.
noun
German.
a sensitivity to language, especially for what is grammatically or idiomatically acceptable in a given language.
If you have sufficient 厂辫谤补肠丑驳别蹿眉丑濒 for German, you鈥檒l know that this noun is a great example of how that language can form compounds that capture very specific concepts. 厂辫谤补肠丑驳别蹿眉丑濒 combines German Sprache 鈥渟peech, language鈥 and 骋别蹿眉丑濒 鈥渇eeling.鈥 Literally meaning 鈥渟peech-feeling,鈥 this term was borrowed into English by the early 1900s to convey the idea of 鈥渁 sensitivity to language, especially for what is grammatically or idiomatically acceptable in a given language,鈥 that is, an intuitive sense of how a language works. For instance, native English speakers understand (usually without being explicitly taught about adjective order) that a phrase like the green big book is incorrect in English. (The correct construction would be the big green book.)
He displays an extraordinary range of what Germans call 厂辫谤补肠丑驳别蹿眉丑濒, an infectious love of language that inspires his readers and illuminates the nooks and crannies of the English language.
The test of vocabulary is important, but subordinate to that of “厂辫谤补肠丑驳别蹿眉丑濒.”
verb (used with object)
to darken, overshadow, or cloud.
The Latin root of obumbrate helps clarify this verb meaning 鈥渢o darken, overshadow, or cloud鈥: umbra, 鈥渟hadow, shade.鈥 Obumbrate comes from Latin 辞产耻尘产谤腻谤别 鈥渢o overshadow, shade, darken.鈥 翱产耻尘产谤腻谤别 combines the prefix ob– 鈥渙n, over鈥 (among other senses) and 耻尘产谤腻谤别 鈥渢o shade,鈥 a derivative of umbra. English owes many other words to Latin umbra, including adumbrate, penumbra, umbrage, and umbrella, the latter of which can be literally understood as 鈥渁 little shade.鈥 Obumbrate entered English in the early 1500s.
… that solemn interval of time when the gloom of midnight obumbrates the globe ….
It requires no stretch of mind to conceive that a man placed in a corner of Germany may be every whit as pragmatical and self-important as another man placed in Newhaven, and withal as liable to confound and obumbrate every subject that may fall his way ….