eclipse
noun · verb
Simple meaning
One celestial body obscures another.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihklipsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪkˈlɪps
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
astronomy
One celestial body obscures another
astronomy
An alignment of astronomical objects whereby one object comes between the observer (or notional observer) and another object, thus obscuring the latter.
Especially, an alignment whereby a planetary object (for example, the Moon) comes between the Sun and another planetary object (for example, the Earth), resulting in a shadow being cast by the middle planetary object onto the other planetary object.
Obscurity, decline, downfall.
verb
transitivefigurative
To overshadow; to be better or more noticeable than.
Cause an eclipse of (a celestial body) by intervention
“The Sun eclipses the moon today.”
transitive
Of astronomical or atmospheric bodies, to cause an eclipse.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: One celestial body obscures another
Used this way, eclipse is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Only a thin outer disk of the sun can be seen.
The earth interrupts light shining on the moon.
An eclipse in which the eclipsed body is only partially obscured.
The moon interrupts light from the sun.
An eclipse as seen from a place where the eclipsed body is completely obscured.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.