This painting has beautiful shading.
The shadows of the trees are falling on the ground.
nuance; subtlety; shades of meaning
Used for delicate differences in expression, feeling, or meaning; often appears in literary or critical contexts.
His words have subtle nuances.
This translation captures the subtleties of the original text well.
penumbra
Standard modern spelling; used in news and general writing.
Literary or older variant using 翳; the same reading and meaning, but less common today.
Compound of 陰 (in, 'shade, dark') and 影 (ei, 'shadow, reflection'). The figurative sense 'nuance' developed from the idea of subtle gradations of light and dark.