nubifer

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈnuː.bɪ.fɛr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈnuː.bi.fer]^[1]

Forms

nūbifer (feminine nūbifera, neuter nūbiferum); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin nūbēs (“cloud”) + -fer (“bearing”).^[2][3][1] De Vaan traces ⟨nūbēs⟩ to Proto-Italic *(s)nouþ-(i-), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ne/oudʰ-, with Welsh nudd as its only direct cognate.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest source is Ovid's Metamorphoses, of the cloud-capped Apennines.^[3][5][6] Köbler dates Ovid 43 BC–18 AD.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Poetic, it meant of mountains cloud-capped, as in Ovid and Valerius Flaccus, and of winds or seasons, bringing clouds, as in Ovid, Lucan and Silius.^[2][3][5]

British Medieval Latin used it for bringing clouds, as of the east wind in Alexander Neckam.^[7]

Timeline

• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it.^[2][6]
• 25–101 AD – Silius Italicus uses it.^[5][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of mountains) Cloud-capped.^[2]
2. (of winds, seasons) Bringing clouds.^[2]

Related words

• nūbēs
• nūbigena
• ferō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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 Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ 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