Etymologically
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nubes

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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
  • 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