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nube

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word nube

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1200 La fazienda de Ultra Mar, in a 13th-century copy More words from the 12th century
Inherited from
Latin nubes via Old Spanish
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *(s)newdʰ-
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin nūbēs
Italian nube
Spanish nube
From the same root
Latin nūbēcula ← nūbēs
Latin nūbifer ← nūbēs
Latin nūbigena ← nūbēs
Latin nūbilus ← nūbēs

Pronunciation

  • /ˈnube/, [ˈnu.β̞e][1]

Forms

nube f (plural nubes)[1] Old Spanish wrote nuve and nube, and also the shortened nuf, found in the Fazienda de Ultra Mar and in Alfonso X's prose.[2][3][1] Asturian has nube beside ñube, a form also recorded in Spanish America;[4][5][1] Judeo-Spanish has nuve.[4][5][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish nuve, inherited from Latin nūbēs (“cloud”).[6][7][1] The same Latin word is Portuguese nuvem, Galician nube, Asturian nube, Italian nube, French nue and Occitan niu.[8][9][10] The Portuguese form, with a nasal at the end, comes from the Latin accusative.[10][11]

The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Italic *nouðetis and Proto-Indo-European *(s)newdʰ- (“to cover”); its cognates include a Welsh word for “haze” and an Avestan word for “clouds”.[12][1] Wiktionary notes that it is not related to Latin nebula (“mist, fog”), despite their likeness.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200, known from a 13th-century copy) tells how the Lord went before the Israelites by day in a nuf, a cloud, and by night in fire.[2] Berceo, in 1220–1250, has the sea rising to the clouds among the signs of the Last Judgement: pujará en las nubes el mar.[2][13][6]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's Lapidario already uses the word both for a rain cloud and for the white film that forms on the eye; his General estoria has a nuf de fuego, a mass of fire falling on swimmers.[3] Covarrubias in 1611 explained the cloud as a moist vapour rising from the earth and gave the eye film as a second sense.[14] Autoridades in 1734 added a mass of things darkening the air, as nubes de flechas “clouds of arrows”, and anything that hides another thing as clouds hide the sun.[15] The Academy's 1884 dictionary also recorded the lapidaries' cloud in a gem.[16]

Cervantes used por las nubes for something placed very high, as in wanting to marry far above one's means.[17] The DLE now also has a light knitted shawl that ladies wore over their heads at night, and the computing sense of data storage on the internet.[7][18] In Mexico nube names baby's breath, a garden plant, and a sweet bun.[19]

Timeline

  • c. 1200 – nuf in the Fazienda de Ultra Mar, in a 13th-century copy.[2]
  • 1220–1250 – Berceo and other poets use nube.[6][2]
  • 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses nuf for a rain cloud and for a white spot on the eye.[3]
  • 1492 – Nebrija's Latin–Spanish dictionary renders nubes as la nuve.[20]
  • 1549 – the first record from the Americas, in New Granada.[5]
  • 1611 – Covarrubias defines the cloud and the film on the eye.[14]
  • 1734 – Autoridades adds the figurative senses.[15]
  • 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology from Latin nubes.[16]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A cloud: a visible mass of tiny drops of water or ice crystals, or both, floating in the air.[7][1]
  2. A great mass of something moving through the air: una nube de gaviotas.[7]
  3. A large crowd of people or things; a multitude.[7][1]
  4. Something that darkens or hides something else.[7]
  5. (jewellery) A shadow in a precious stone that dulls its brilliance.[7]
  6. (medicine) A small whitish spot on the outer layer of the cornea.[7][1]
  7. (dated) A very light knitted shawl that women wrapped round their heads when going out at night.[7]
  8. (computing) The cloud: storage and processing space for data on the internet.[7][18]
  9. (Spain) A marshmallow.[1]
  10. (Mexico) baby's breath, a garden plant; a sweet round bun dusted with sugar.[19]

Word family

  • nubada
  • nubarrón
  • nuboso

Usage notes

Set phrases include estar en las nubes “to be daydreaming” and poner por las nubes “to praise to the skies”.[1][21] A nube de verano is a sudden summer storm cloud, and figuratively a passing upset.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. nube
  3. ^ a b c Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. nube
  4. ^ a b Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. ñube
  5. ^ a b c Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. ñube
  6. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. nube
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. nube
  8. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. nube
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5974
  10. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. nuvem
  12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  13. ^ Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. s.v. nube
  14. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1168
  15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 686
  16. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 744
  17. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. s.v. nube
  18. ^ a b Universidad de Murcia, NEOMA: Diccionario de neologismos del español actual (online), p. s.v. nube
  19. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. nube
  20. ^ Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. nube
  21. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. nube

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Nube.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/nube. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·