imber

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈɪm.bɛr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈim.ber]^[1]

Forms

imber m (genitive imbris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *n̥fri- (“cloud”), from Proto-Indo-European *n̥bʰ-r-o- (“rain cloud”), a derivative of the root of nebula “mist”.^[2][1] Cognate with Oscan anafríss (“to the rain gods”), Sanskrit अभ्र (abhrá, “cloud”) and Ancient Greek ὄμβρος (ómbros, “rain shower”).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, where a lover says he will endure rain, toil, sun and thirst.^[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was rain, a shower or downpour, and Cato lists the work that can be done in the rain.^[3] In Virgil it can be a rain cloud.^[4] It was applied to artificial showers and to streams of other liquids, as a rain of tears in Catullus, and in poetry to water in general, as Plautus' “carrying water in a sieve”.^[3]

Medieval writers used it of rain and figuratively.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of enduring rain.^[3][5]
• 234–149 BC – Cato lists the work that can be done in the rain.^[3][5]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus speaks of a rain of tears.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Rain, a shower.^[3]
2. A rain cloud.^[4]
3. A shower (of other liquids, tears).^[3]
4. (poetic) Water.^[3]

Word family

• imbrex
• imbrialis
• imbricitor
• imbricō
• imbricus
• imbridus
• imbrifer
• imbrifico
• imbrilis

Related words

• nebula

Usage notes

Döderlein contrasts pluvia, rain as a welcome natural event that the thirsty ground absorbs, with imber, rain with cold and stormy weather, and nimbus, rain with clouds.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper