The word for today is…
umbra (noun) – 1. A dark area, especially the blackest part of a shadow from which all light is cut off.
2. (Astronomy)
(a) The completely dark central portion of the shadow cast by the earth, moon, or other body during an eclipse.
(b) The darkest region of a sunspot.
Source : The Free Dictionary
Etymology : The Latin word umbra (“shade, shadow”) has given English a range of words in addition to umbra itself. An umbrella can provide us with shade from the sun. So can an umbrageous tree. (In this case, umbrageous means “affording shade.”) The connection to shade or shadow in other umbra words is less obvious. When we say someone takes umbrage , we mean they take offense, but in times past people used the word as a synonym of shade or shadow. These two senses of umbrage influenced umbrageous, which can mean “inclined to take offense easily” as well as “affording shade.”
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