- shade (n.)
- Old English sceadu "shade, shadow, darkness," also "shady place, protection from glare or heat," from Proto-Germanic *skadwo (cf. Old Saxon skado, Middle Dutch scade, Dutch schaduw, Old High German scato, German Schatten, Gothic skadus), from PIE *skotwa, from root *skot- "dark, shade" (cf. Greek skotos "darkness," Albanian kot "darkness," Old Irish scath, Old Welsh scod, Breton squeut "darkness"). Meaning "grade of color" first recorded 1680s (cf. French nuance, from nue "cloud"). Meaning "ghost" is from 1610s. Sense of "window blind" first recorded 1867, American English.
- shade (v.)
- "to screen from light or heat," c.1400, from shade (n.). Related: Shaded; shading.