- shadow (n.)
- Old English sceadwe, sceaduwe, oblique cases of sceadu (see shade). As a designation of members of an opposition party chosen as counterparts of the government in power, it is recorded from 1906. Shadow of Death (Ps. xxiii:4, etc.) is Greek skia thanatou, perhaps a mistranslation of a Hebrew word for "intense darkness."
- shadow (v.)
- late Old English sceadwian "to protect as with covering wings" (cf. also overshadow), from the root of shadow (n.). Meaning "to follow like a shadow" is from c.1600 in an isolated instance; not attested again until 1872. Related: Shadowed; shadowing.