umbo

1. The boss or knob at the center of a shield.
2. 1. Biology. A knoblike protuberance arising from a surface, as the prominence near the hinge of a bivalve shell or the projection at the scale tip of a seed-bearing cone.
   2. Anatomy. A small projection at the center of the outer surface of the eardrum.

[Latin umbō, umbōn-.]

Umbo (Otto Umbehr; 1902-80), German photographer. Although he had intended to study painting in Düsseldorf, in 1921 Umbo instead became Johannes Itten's student at the Bauhaus. He later cited this contact as a key influence on his development as a photographer. In 1924, he moved to Berlin, where he opened a studio and joined the capital's dynamic arts scene. He also became involved with film, working with Walter Ruttmann on Berlin, Symphony of a Great City (1927). Dephot, the Berlin picture agency, employed Umbo until its closure in 1932. During the Second World War, his studio and archive were destroyed. Only in the 1970s was his early work rediscovered, leading to a reassessment of his role in the German avant-grade. The photograms, photomontages, and surreal images from Berlin's 1920s theatre district are in stark contrast to his later photojournalism. In 1948, Umbo returned to professional photography, teaching at the Werkkunstschule, Hanover, until 1974.

— Kelley E. Wilder

Bibliography

• Molderings, H., Umbo: Otto Umbehr (1995)

A small anatomical projection on a surface, such as that on the inner surface of the tympanic membrane at the end of the manubrium of the malleus, corresponding to the most depressed point of the membrane.

Pl. umbones [L.] a round projection.

• u. membrana tympanae — the slight projection at the center of the outer surface of the tympanic membrane.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a slight rounded elevation where the malleus attaches to the eardrum