Etymologically
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nubilus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word nubilus

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Ennius
Ultimate origin
Latin (nūbēs)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈnuː.bɪ.ɫʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈnuː.bi.lus][1]

Forms

nūbilus (feminine nūbila, neuter nūbilum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from nūbēs “cloud” with a suffix ⟨-ilus⟩, and Wiktionary takes it as ⟨-idus⟩ with /d/ changed to /l/.[2][1] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *(s)nouþ- for ⟨nūbēs⟩, whose only direct cognate is Welsh ⟨nudd⟩.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Ennius, whom he dates 204–169 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant cloudy, overcast, as of the sky in Pliny the Elder and Seneca; as a neuter noun, nūbilum, cloud, as in Varro; dark, dim, as in Propertius; cloudy, not clear; befogged, confused, as in Plautus; of a face clouded with care or anger, as in Ovid; and of life clouded by misfortune.[2][5] Lewis & Short call it poetic and post-Augustan.[6]

Medieval Latin used it for blind.[7] It survives in Italian nuvolo and nuvola, Catalan núvol and Romanian nor.[1]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.[4]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses the noun nūbilum.[2][4]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a clouded face.[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Cloudy, overcast.[2]
  2. Dark, dim; not clear.[2]
  3. Confused, befogged.[2]
  4. Gloomy, troubled; frowning.[2]

Noun

  1. (nūbilum) A cloud.[2]

Word family

  • innūbilus
  • nūbilum
  • praenūbilus
  • subnūbilus
  • nūbila
  • nūbilō
  • nūbilōsus
  • nūbēcula
  • nūbēs
  • nūbifer
  • nūbificus
  • nūbifugus
  • nūbigena
  • nūbiger
  • nūbigōsus
  • nūbilārium
  • nūbivagus
  • nimbus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Nubilus.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/nubilus. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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