nuage French · revision 16956

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1564, Jean Thierry|origins=la nubes}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ny.aʒ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /nɥaʒ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nuage''' ''m'' (plural nuages)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|fr|nue|-age]], and replaced [[nue]] and [[nuée]] in common use;^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) it is also the main word in the northern dialects, beside the older noun and crossed forms.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) That noun continues [[la-vul|*nūba]], from [[la|nūbēs|t=cloud]], which survives as [[pro|niu]] and [[pt|nuvem]]; the derivative [[m|la|nūbilum]] gave [[it|nuvolo]] and [[es|nublo]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935)^(FEW|7, 219a)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Jean Thierry's French–Latin dictionary (1564) records it as a weather term, “cloud”.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Figurative uses came quickly: what clouds the sight or the mind (Desportes, 1576), a dimming of sight from fatigue or emotion (Régnier, 1619), what threatens serenity (Montchrestien, 1604: ''Tout nuage d'ennui de vos ames s'escarte'') and what troubles harmony between people (Bossuet, 1669).^(TLFi) ''Nuage de poussière'' is in Fénelon's ''Télémaque'',^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) and ''nuage de lait'', a drop of milk in tea, in Musset (1840).^(TLFi) ''Être dans les nuages'' “to be absent-minded” is in Michelet (1847), and ''ciel sans nuage'' in Larousse (1874).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) The adjective [[nuageux]] is recorded earlier than the noun, in 1549.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1549 – ''Nuageux''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1564 – ''Nuage'' in Jean Thierry.^(TLFi)

+ * 1576 – Figuratively, what clouds the mind.^(TLFi)

+ * 1669 – A disagreement between people, in Bossuet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1717 – ''Nuage de poussière'' (Fénelon).^(TLFi)

+ * 1840 – ''Nuage de lait'', in Musset.^(TLFi)

+ * 1847 – ''Dans les nuages'', in Michelet.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|cloud]]: ''nuages de grêle, de pluie'', ''ciel chargé de nuages''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A cloud (of dust, smoke): ''nuage de poussière''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Nuage de lait'': a drop of milk (in tea or coffee).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Être dans les nuages'': to be [[m|en|absent-minded]], daydreaming.^(TLFi)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A shadow, a threat to happiness or harmony: ''ciel sans nuage''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nuageux]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nue]]

+ * [[nuée]]

+ * [[nuance]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}