eclipse

/iklips/

  • noun 1 an obscuring of the light from one celestial body by the passage of another between it and the observer or between it and its source of illumination. 2 a sudden loss of significance, power, or prominence.

  • verb 1 (of a celestial body) obscure the light from or to (another body). 2 deprive of significance, power, or prominence.

  — ORIGIN Greek ekleipsis, from ekleipein ‘fail to appear, be eclipsed’.

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