nubecula Latin · revision 10135

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Cicero|origins=ine-pro *(s)newdʰ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [nuːˈbeː.kʊ.ɫa]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [nuˈbɛː.ku.la]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nūbēcula''' ''f'' (genitive nūbēculae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Pliny has the spelling ''nūbicula''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|nūbēs|-cula|t1=cloud]], a diminutive.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan reconstructs ⟨nūbēs⟩ as Proto-Italic ⟨*(s)nouþ-(i-)⟩, [[ine-pro|*(s)newdʰ-]], cognate with [[cy|nudd|t=haze]] and Avestan ⟨snaoδa-⟩ “clouds”, and notes that [[obnūbō]] suggests the stem meant “cover”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's earliest source is Cicero.^(Köbler 2010) Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a little cloud, as in Pliny; a cloudy spot, speck or discoloration, and in medicine a film in the eye; in astronomy a nebula, a cloud-like cluster of stars; and figuratively a gloomy expression of the face.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ British Medieval Latin used it for a small cloud, also figuratively and with reference to the cloud of 1 Kings 18:44.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny uses it of a little cloud, a speck and a nebula.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A little [[m|en|cloud]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A speck, cloudy spot; a film in the eye.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(astronomy)'' A [[m|en|nebula]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # A gloomy look.^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nūbēs]]

+ * [[nūbilus]]

+ * [[obnūbō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}