shadow
adjective/ˈʃædəʊ/
/ˈʃædəʊ/
[only before noun] (British English, politics)- used to refer to senior politicians of the main opposition party who would become government ministers if their party won the next election
- the shadow Chancellor
- the shadow Cabinet
Word OriginOld English scead(u)we (noun), oblique case of sceadu (see shade), sceadwian ‘screen or shield from attack’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch schaduw and German Schatten (nouns), from an Indo-European root shared by Greek skotos ‘darkness’.
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shadow