■ noun
1》 a device consisting of a circular fabric canopy on a folding metal frame supported by a central rod, used as protection against rain.
2》 a protecting force or influence.
↘a screen of fighter aircraft or anti-aircraft artillery.
3》 [usu. as modifier ] a thing that includes or contains many different parts: an ~ organization.
4》 Zoology the gelatinous disc of a jellyfish, which it contracts and expands to move through the water.
Derivatives
~ed adjective
Origin
C17: from Ital. ombrella , dimin. of ombra 'shade', from L. umbra 'shadow'.