umber

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A brown clay, somewhat darker than ochre, which contains iron and manganese oxides.

   “I'll put myself in poor and mean attire, And with a kind of umber smirch my face; The like do you; so shall we pass along, And never stir assailants.”

2. (alt-of, alternative, countable, uncountable)Alternative form of umbrere.
3. (countable, uncountable)A grayling.
4. (countable, uncountable)A dusky brown African wading bird (Scopus umbretta) allied to the shoebill and herons; a hamerkop.

adj

1. (not-comparable)Of a reddish brown colour, like that of the pigment.

   “Their harps are of the umber shade / That hides the blush of waking day.”

verb

1. (transitive)To give a reddish-brown colour to.

   “Armies o'er armies heap'd, the locusts came, Like clouds in autumn umbering all the sky […]”