Etymologically
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nebulosus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [nɛ.bʊˈɫoː.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ne.buˈlɔː.s̬us][1]

Forms

nebulōsus (feminine nebulōsa, neuter nebulōsum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin nebula (“mist, fog”) + -ōsus (“full of”).[2][1][3] De Vaan traces the noun to Proto-Italic *nefelā- and Proto-Indo-European *nebh-e-lo- (“small cloud”); it is cognate with Ancient Greek νεφέλη (nephélē, “cloud”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cato's treatise on farming,[4][5] which advises what to plant ager sī nebulōsus est, if the land is foggy.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Classical writers used it of places, skies and weather subject to mist: Cicero speaks of a foggy, murky sky, Propertius of a misty plain, Seneca of foggy weather as the most windless.[2][6] Vitruvius and Pliny the Elder used it of vapour that looks like mist,[2] and Ausonius of nets as fine as clouds.[6][7] Gellius applied it figuratively to an obscure name, one whose origin was unclear.[2][6]

Medieval writers kept both senses,[8] from Alcuin's misty exhalation of the waters onwards.[8] English took it in the late 14th century as nebulous, at first “cloudy, misty”.[3]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of foggy land.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of a foggy sky.[2][5]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of vapour like mist.[2][5]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of an obscure name.[2][5]
  • 799 – Alcuin writes of the misty exhalation of the waters.[8]
  • late 14th century – English borrows it as nebulous.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Full of or subject to mists, foggy.[2][6]
  2. Resembling mist, vaporous.[2]
  3. (of fabric) Fine, cloud-like.[6][7]
  4. (figurative) Obscure, hard to understand.[2][6]

Word family

  • nebulositas
  • English nebulous

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c 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