nuvoloso

Forms

nuvoloso (feminine nuvolosa, masculine plural nuvolosi, feminine plural nuvolose)^[1] Old forms include nuviloso, nobuloso, nubuloso and nuoloso.^[2] Tommaseo–Bellini also has nugoloso.^[3]

Etymology

It is from Italian nuvola + -oso, formed on the model of Late Latin nūbilōsus (“cloudy”).^[4][5][6][2] Nocentini, Devoto–Oli, Devoto and Wiktionary take it instead as the Late Latin adjective itself, reshaped after the Italian noun.^[7][8][9][1] The Latin adjective comes from nūbilum (“cloud”), the noun of nūbilus (“cloudy”), which is formed from nūbēs (“cloud”).^[10][1] Italian also has nubiloso, closer to the Latin form.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is nuviloso in Guinizelli, before 1276, who writes that a fire born in the air from clashing winds burns all around it se non more 'n venire in nuviloso loco (“if it does not die on reaching a cloudy place”).^[11][2]

Semantic evolution

Restoro d'Arezzo (1282) has the form nuvoloso and explains that there is no dew or frost when the air is thick and cloudy.^[11][2] Boccaccio speaks of brightening il nuvoloso tempo, and an old translation of Ovid uses the word for stormy weather.^[2][3] Early figurative uses speak of cloudy stains on a pure heart.^[3]

Later writers use it for a troubled face or look, and for vague or confused thoughts: Pirandello has a character sunk in his nuvolose meditazioni.^[4][8][5] Carducci writes of Langhe nuvolose, hills wrapped in clouds.^[4][12] Meteorology speaks of a sistema nuvoloso.^[6][4]

Timeline

• Before 1276 – Guinizelli writes nuviloso.^[11]
• 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo writes nuvoloso.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. cloudy, overcast, of the sky or the weather: Domani sarà nuvoloso su tutto il nord.^[4][8][5]
2. Wrapped in clouds, of a mountain peak.^[6][12][4]
3. Made of clouds: sistema nuvoloso.^[6][4]
4. (figurative) troubled, gloomy, of a face or look.^[4][5][6]
5. (figurative, literary) Vague, abstract and confused.^[4][8][12]
6. Of a liquid, turbid.^[4]

Word family

• nuvolosità

Related words

• nuvola
• nuvolo
• nube
• nubiloso

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 11, 703
3. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)