nublar

Forms

nublar (first-person singular present nublo, first-person singular preterite nublé, past participle nublado)^[1] The forms anublar and añublar are older in the dictionaries;^[2][1][3] ñublar is found in popular speech in the Americas.^[2][1][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin nūbilō (“to become cloudy, overcast”).^[4][1][2][5] The Latin verb was formed from nūbilus (“cloudy”), itself from nūbēs (“cloud”).^[6][7][8]

The same Latin verb is Portuguese nublar, Asturian nublar and Galician nubrar.^[5][9] Nascentes considers the Portuguese word semi-learned.^[10]

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *(s)nouþ- and Proto-Indo-European *(s)ne/oudʰ- for the noun, whose only close cognate is Welsh nudd (“haze”); since obnūbō (“to veil”) points to a meaning “cover”, he suggests clouds were named as a covering.^[8] Wiktionary glosses the root as “to cover”.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the verb nublar to 1615, the form anublar to the early 15th century and the participle nublado to 1492.^[2][11] The noun nublado “cloudy weather” is much older: Abraham of Toledo's Moamín (1250) advises not to take hawks out hunting when there is rain, fog or nublado.^[12]

Semantic evolution

For a long time the dictionaries treated nublar as a variant of anublar: Autoridades and the Academy editions from 1817 to 1899 send the reader to anublar, and Salvá in 1846 labelled nublar as old.^{[13][14][15][16]} Today the DLE defines nublar fully, with nublarse for the sky clouding over, and figurative senses: to blur the sight, to cloud the judgement, to dim someone's fame or happiness, to darken the face with sadness.^[4][17] The verb is recorded in Mexico in 1778, and in 1843 Uruguay has the popular form ñublada.^[3]

Timeline

• 1250 – the noun nublado “cloudy weather” appears in the Moamín.^[12]
• 1335 – first record of the noun nublo.^[2]
• early 15th century – anublar is recorded.^[2]
• 1492 – first record of the participle nublado.^[2]
• 1615 – first record of nublar.^[2][11]
• 1734 – Autoridades refers nublar to anublar.^[13]
• 1778 – first record from the Americas, in Mexico: casi toda ella se nubló “nearly all of it clouded over”, of an afternoon.^[3]
• 1846 – Salvá marks the verb as old.^[15]
• 1884 – the Academy gives its etymology, from Latin nubilare.^[16]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, also pronominal) To cloud: to hide the blue of the sky or the light of the sun or moon.^[4][1]
2. (transitive, also pronominal) To darken, take away light and clearness.^[4]
3. (transitive) To dim or tarnish the esteem or brilliance of something: La derrota nubló la alegría de la fiesta.^[4][18]
4. (transitive, also pronominal) To blur the sight: Las lágrimas le nublaban la vista.^[4][17]
5. (transitive, also pronominal) To cloud or confuse the reason or the feelings.^[4][17]
6. (transitive, also pronominal) To make a face show sadness or worry.^[4]
7. (impersonal, pronominal) To cloud over, of the sky: A mediodía empezó a nublarse.^[4][1]

Word family

• nublado

Related words

• nube
• nublo
• anublar
• añublar
• nuboso
• Latin nūbilus
• Portuguese nublar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. nube
3. ^ a b c d 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. ñublar
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. nublar
5. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954)
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. nūbilō
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. nūbilus
8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. nūbēs
9. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. nublar
10. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. nublar
11. ^ a b Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 494
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. nublar
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 696
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 603
15. ^ a b Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 759
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. 745
17. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. nublar
18. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. nublar