nubes

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈnuː.beːs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈnuː.bes]^[1]

Forms

nūbēs f (genitive nūbis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *(s)nouþ-(i-), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ne/oudʰ- (“to cover”).^[2][1] Its only close cognate is Welsh nudd (“haze”); Avestan 𐬯𐬥𐬀𐬊𐬜𐬀 (snaoδa, “clouds”) is also compared.^[2][3] De Vaan notes that obnūbō “to veil” suggests that the stem ⟨nūb-⟩ meant “cover”, as clouds are often named.^[2] Lewis and Short compared Ancient Greek νέφος (néphos, “cloud”), a link de Vaan does not make.^[4][2] Isidore derives it from the same verb, in the sense “to cover”, since clouds cover the sky, and links nūptae “brides” to it because they veil their faces.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Livius Andronicus, who has the old nominative nūbs.^[2][3] Plautus has a masculine nūbis “a black rain cloud”.^[3] Köbler places Livius Andronicus before 200 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant a cloud, including the divine cloud in which gods hid themselves in poetry, and the mist that forms on polished silver when breathed on.^[3] It was used of clouds of dust or smoke and of swarms of birds, insects or missiles, and figuratively of anything that obscures, such as a cloud of grief or a veil of mourning.^[3] The Appendix Probi corrects nūbs to nūbēs.^[7]

Its derivatives include nūbilus “cloudy” and nūbēcula “little cloud”.^[1] Gallo-Roman nūba gave French nue “cloud”, whence nuer “to shade” and nuance, the source of English nuance (1781).^[8][1]

Timeline

• before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus has the nominative nūbs.^[2][6]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has “a black rain cloud is coming”.^[3][6]
• 220–130 BC – Pacuvius speaks of lightning flashing among the clouds.^[3][6]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore derives it from obnūbere.^[5][6]
• 1781 – English nuance is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cloud.^[3]
2. A divine cloud concealing a god.^[3]
3. The mist formed by breath on a polished surface.^[3]
4. A cloud (of dust or smoke); a swarm (of birds, insects, missiles).^[3]
5. Something that obscures; a cloud (of grief); perhaps a mourning veil.^[3]

Word family

• nūbēcula
• nūbifer
• nūbificus
• nūbifugus
• nūbigena
• nūbiger
• nūbigōsus
• nūbilārium
• nūbilō
• nūbilōsus
• nūbilum
• nūbilus

Related words

• obnūbō
• English nuance

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Appendix Probi, a late antique list of correct and censured Latin word forms ("calida non calda"); ed. H. Keil, Grammatici Latini IV, Leipzig 1864, 197–199.
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com