- eclipse (n.)
- late 13c., from O.Fr. eclipse, from L. eclipsis, from Gk. ekleipsis "a leaving out, forsaking, an eclipse," from ekleipein "to forsake a usual place, fail to appear, be eclipsed," from ek "out" + leipein "to leave" (cognate with L. linquere; see relinquish). The verb is late 14c. (intrans., a sense now obsolete), late 15c. (trans.); figurative use is from 1580s. Related: Eclipsed; eclipsing.