adumbration UK /ˌædʌmˈbɹeɪʃ(ə)n/US /ˌædəmˈbɹeɪʃ(ə)n/ noun5 •The state of being in shadow or shade; (countable) a shadow. •A faint sketch; a brief representation, an outline.[V]ague and unsatisfactory would all these evidences appear, if they had not been illustrated and confirmed by that narrative, of which all other records are but faint adumbrations. — 1809 •(rare) The supposed practice of displaying only outline of a charge (“image displayed on an escutcheon”), sometimes filled in with a darker shade than the field.ADUMBRATION, [in Heraldry] an absolute taking avvay of the Charge or Thing born, so that nothing of it remains but the bare Proportion of the out Lines. — 1721 •(figurative) A rough or symbolic representation; a vague indication of what is to come, a foreshadowing.Now, no Priest was suffered to eat the Flesh, or drink the Blood, of this Sacrifice, because it was a mystical Adumbration of a spiritual Feast above, [...] — 1767 •The form of an object as seen by an observer. formsadumbrations
