An event when one heavenly body, like the moon or Earth, moves into the shadow of another and blocks its light.
From Greek 'ekleipsis' meaning 'abandonment' or 'failure to appear', from 'ekleipein' meaning 'to leave out' or 'to fail'. People saw an eclipse as the sun or moon failing to show up.
An eclipse once felt like the sky itself was breaking its promise to give light. We still use the word figuratively: one person can 'eclipse' another by outshining them so much that they seem to disappear.
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