eclipse

Where does the word "eclipse" come from? It comes from Greek ekleipsis, passing through Old French before entering English (1300s).

Eclipse’s story begins in Greek: ekleipsis meant “a failing, an abandonment.” Literally an abandonment, a failing, describing the sun or moon seeming to vanish. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old French as eclipse. Carried into French astronomical vocabulary. It reached English by 1300s as eclipse. Settled as the English word for one celestial body obscuring another. Today, eclipse means an event in which one celestial body obscures another, blocking its light.

1. Stage 1 · Greek · ancient ekleipsis "a failing, an abandonment", literally an abandonment, a failing, describing the sun or moon seeming to vanish.
2. Stage 2 · Old French · medieval eclipse "the obscuring of a celestial body", carried into French astronomical vocabulary.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1300s eclipse "the obscuring of light from one celestial body by another", settled as the English word for one celestial body obscuring another.