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UMBRELLA , a portable folding See also:protector from See also:rain (Fr. parapluic), the name See also:parasol being given to the smaller and more fanciful See also:article carried by ladies as a sunshade, and the en-tout-cas being available for both purposes. Primarily the umbrella (ombrella, Ital. dim. from See also:Lat. See also:umbra, shade) was a sunshade alone—its See also:original See also:home having been in hot, brilliant climates. In Eastern countries from the earliest times the umbrella was one of the insignia of See also:royalty and See also:power. On the sculptured remains of See also:ancient See also:Nineveh and See also:Egypt there are representations of See also:kings and sometimes of lesser potentates going in procession with an umbrella carried over their heads; and throughout See also:Asia the umbrella had, and still has, something of the same significance. The Mahratta princes of See also:India had among their titles " See also:lord of the umbrella." In 1855 the See also:- KING
- KING (O. Eng. cyning, abbreviated into cyng, cing; cf. O. H. G. chun- kuning, chun- kunig, M.H.G. kiinic, kiinec, kiinc, Mod. Ger. Konig, O. Norse konungr, kongr, Swed. konung, kung)
- KING [OF OCKHAM], PETER KING, 1ST BARON (1669-1734)
- KING, CHARLES WILLIAM (1818-1888)
- KING, CLARENCE (1842–1901)
- KING, EDWARD (1612–1637)
- KING, EDWARD (1829–1910)
- KING, HENRY (1591-1669)
- KING, RUFUS (1755–1827)
- KING, THOMAS (1730–1805)
- KING, WILLIAM (1650-1729)
- KING, WILLIAM (1663–1712)
king of See also:Burma in addressing the See also:governor-See also:general of India termed himself " the monarch who reigns over the See also:great umbrella-wearing chiefs of the Eastern countries." The baldachins erected over ecclesiastical chairs, altars and portals, and the canopies of thrones and pulpits, &c., are in their origin closely related to umbrellas, and have the same symbolic significance. In each of the basilican churches of See also:Rome there still hangs a large umbrella.
Among the Greeks and See also:Romans the umbrella (oiaa.r, aiceabewv, umbraculum, umbella) was used by ladies, while the carrying of it by men was regarded as a sign of effeminacy. Probably in these See also:southern climes it never went out of use, and allusions by See also:Montaigne show that in his See also:day its employment as a See also:sun-shade was quite See also:common in See also:Italy. The umbrella was not unknown in See also:England in the 17th See also:century, and was already used as a rain protector. See also:Michael See also:Drayton, See also:writing about the be-ginning of the 17th century, says, speaking of doves:
" And, like umbrellas, with their feathers
See also:Shield you in all sorts of weathers."
Although it was the practice to keep an umbrella in the
See also:coffee-houses See also:early in the 18th century, its use cannot have
been very See also:familiar, for in 1752 See also:Colonel See also:Wolfe, writing from
See also:Paris, mentions the carrying of them there as a See also:defence against both rain and sun, and wonders that they are not introduced into England. The traveller See also:Jonas See also:Hanway, who died in 1786, is credited with having been the first Englishman who habitually carried an umbrella.
The umbrella, as at first used, was based on its Eastern prototype, and was a heavy, ungainly article which did not hold well together. It had a See also:long handle, with ribs of See also:whalebone or See also:cane, very rarely of See also:- METAL
- METAL (through Fr. from Lat. metallum, mine, quarry, adapted from Gr. µATaXAov, in the same sense, probably connected with ,ueraAAdv, to search after, explore, µeTa, after, aAAos, other)
metal, and stretchers of cane. The jointing of the ribs and stretchers to the stick and to each other was very rough and imperfect. The covering material consisted of oiled See also:silk or See also:cotton, heavy in substance, and liable to stick together in the folds. See also:Gingham soon came to be substituted for the oiled See also:cloth, and in 1848 See also:- WILLIAM
- WILLIAM (1143-1214)
- WILLIAM (1227-1256)
- WILLIAM (1J33-1584)
- WILLIAM (A.S. Wilhelm, O. Norse Vilhidlmr; O. H. Ger. Willahelm, Willahalm, M. H. Ger. Willehelm, Willehalm, Mod.Ger. Wilhelm; Du. Willem; O. Fr. Villalme, Mod. Fr. Guillaume; from " will," Goth. vilja, and " helm," Goth. hilms, Old Norse hidlmr, meaning
- WILLIAM (c. 1130-C. 1190)
- WILLIAM, 13TH
William Sangster patented the use of See also:alpaca as an umbrella covering material. One of the most notable inventions for combining lightness, strength and See also:elasticity in the ribs of umbrellas was the ` See also:Paragon " See also:rib patented by See also:Samuel See also:Fox in 1852. It is formed of a thin See also:strip of See also:steel rolled into a U or trough See also:section, a See also:form which gives great strength for the See also:weight of metal. Umbrella silk is chiefly made at See also:Lyons and See also:Crefeld ; much of it is so loaded that it cuts readily at the folds. Textures of pure silk or of silk and alpaca mixed have better See also:wear-resisting properties.
End of Article: UMBRELLA
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