nebula English · revision 1490

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1449}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈnɛb.jə.lə/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|nebula|t=mist, vapour, cloud]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) first as [[inh|enm|nebule]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*nebh-|t=cloud]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD)^(Klein 1966) It is related to [[grc|νεφέλη|tr=nephélē|t=cloud]], [[m|grc|νέφος|tr=néphos]], [[sa|नभस्|tr=nábhas|t=mist, sky]], [[goh|nebul|t=fog]] ([[de|Nebel]]) and [[ang|nifol|t=dark]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As ''nebule'', a cloud or mist (before 1449 in Barnhart; mid-15th century in Etymonline).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English the word had several medical uses.^(Cresswell 2021) It was reborrowed from Latin in 1661 for a film or cloudy spot on the eye,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) and later for cloudiness in the urine.^(AHD)^(RHWU) The astronomical sense, a cloudlike patch in the heavens, is first recorded in 1718, used by Edmond Halley,^(Cresswell 2021)^(MWU 2024) or 1727–38 in the OED and Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) As early as 1802 Herschel realized that some nebulae were star clusters,^(Etymonline) and the word was long used of galaxies beyond the Milky Way before astronomers distinguished nearby clouds of gas from distant galaxies.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) Kant first proposed the ''nebular hypothesis'' of the origin of the solar system.^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1449 – ''nebule'', a cloud or mist.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1661 – a film on the eye.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1718 – a cloudlike patch in the sky (Halley).^(Cresswell 2021)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1727–38 – first quotation in the OED.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1837 – ''nebular hypothesis''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(astronomy)'' A diffuse cloud of interstellar [[gas]] and [[dust]], visible as a luminous patch or as a dark area against a brighter background.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(astronomy, dated)'' A [[galaxy]], especially one beyond the [[Milky Way]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # ''(pathology)'' A cloudy spot on the [[cornea]]; cloudiness in the urine.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A liquid medication applied as a spray.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nebular]]

+ * [[nebulium]]

+ * [[Crab Nebula]]

+ * [[dark nebula]]

+ * [[diffuse nebula]]

+ * [[emission nebula]]

+ * [[planetary nebula]]

+ * [[reflection nebula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nebulosity]]

+ * [[nebulous]]

+ * [[nebulizer]]

+ * [[Niflheim]]

+ * [[nimbus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}