eclipse

Etymology

From Old French eclipse, from Latin eclīpsis, from Ancient Greek ἔκλειψις (ékleipsis, “eclipse”), from ἐκλείπω (ekleípō, “I abandon, go missing, vanish”), from ἐκ (ek, “out”) and λείπω (leípō, “I leave behind”).

noun

1. (astronomy) An alignment of astronomical objects whereby one object comes between the observer (or notional observer) and another object, thus obscuring the latter.
2. 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.
3. (ornithology) A seasonal state of plumage in some birds, notably ducks, adopted temporarily after the breeding season and characterised by a dull and scruffy appearance.
4. Obscurity, decline, downfall.
   a. 1618, Walter Raleigh, quoted in Eclipse, entry in 1805, Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, Volume 2, unnumbered page, All the posterity of our first parents suffered a perpetual eclipse of spiritual life.
   As in the soft and sweet eclipse, When soul meets soul on lovers' lips. 1820, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Prometheus Unbound”, in The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley, published 1839, page 340
   Nor were the wool prospects much better. The pastoral industry, which had weathered the severe depression of the early forties by recourse to boiling down the sheep for their tallow, and was now firmly re-established as the staple industry of the colony, was threatened once more with eclipse. 1929, M. Barnard Eldershaw, A House is Built, Chapter VIII, Section ii
   Aubrey was rapturous. All her other playthings went into eclipse and the doings of the Geezenstacks occupied most of her waking thoughts. 1943, Fredric Brown, The Geezenstacks

verb

1. (transitive) Of astronomical or atmospheric bodies, to cause an eclipse.
   The Moon eclipsed the Sun.
2. (transitive, figurative) To overshadow; to be better or more noticeable than.
   The Util.System namespace eclipses the top-level System namespace. 2005, Sean Campbell, Introducing Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 for developers, page 56
   Everything about her year-old restaurant […] reflects her love of bringing people to the table for good, simple food that's not eclipsed by bells and whistles. 2007, Cincinnati Magazine, page 81
3. (Irish grammar) To undergo eclipsis.