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The Muslim conquests completed Europe's shunt into the shadows that had begun with the invasions of the Goths, Huns and others two centuries earlier.

"Shunt" reads in Merriam Webster's dictionary:

a means or mechanism for turning or thrusting aside

What does "shunt" mean in the above context?

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    What part don't you understand? Europe was thrust aside into the shadows (figuratively) by first the invasions of the Goths, Huns and others, and then 200 years later, the Muslim conquests.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Apr 17, 2022 at 10:43
  • @Mankak did I answer your question properly?
    – DialFrost
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 14:29
  • Source of quote, please!
    – James K
    Commented Jul 12, 2022 at 17:07

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This word "shunt" in the dictionary means the below as a verb

direct or divert to a less important place or position

Therefore, in the context above, it probably reveals how the Muslims have forced Europe into hiding/away from capitol/diverted away e.g.

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  • somewhat figurative expression, I think.
    – Mankak
    Commented Apr 17, 2022 at 13:44
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    Oxford Languages actually says "Perhaps from shun". Another of the definitions they give is direct or divert to a less important place or position, which seems to fit the bill here.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Apr 17, 2022 at 15:43
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M-W's definition isn't very good in this case. Instead of being "a means or mechanism for turning or thrusting aside", here a shunt is really the act of turning or being thrust aside. AHD's definition is more appropriate:

  1. The act or process of turning aside or moving to an alternate course.
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