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Shade

Supernatural
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The spirit or shadow of a dead person. In poetry, it often appears as a diminished but enduring remnant of the past.

Detailed Definition
A shade is the soul, ghost, or insubstantial remnant of someone who has died, especially in classical and literary traditions. The word emphasizes thinness and shadow rather than spectacle, making it apt for quiet elegy. A poet may address a shade in an underworld scene, encounter one in a familiar room, or become shade-like through grief. The term suggests that death does not erase identity completely, but reduces it to voice, outline, and memory.
Example
Example in poetry:
A shade is the spirit or shadow of a dead person, especially in classical and literary traditions.; In Homer’s underworld, shades are diminished dead souls, a useful contrast with vivid and powerful ghosts.; A poem may address the shade of an ancestor: “Shade of my grandfather, teach me the language he buried.”; Because a shade is also a patch of darkness or shelter, poets can use the word’s double meaning to link death with shadowed landscape.
Additional Notes
A shade suggests a weakened remnant rather than a fully present ghost. It is useful for representing the dead, faded history, or a former self that still influences the speaker.
Other Meanings of “Shade”
Also Known As
Shadow Spirit of the Dead
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