nimbus Latin · revision 710

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈnɪm.bʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈnim.bus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nimbus''' ''m'' (genitive nimbī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It may go back to [[itc-pro|*nefos-]], from [[ine-pro|*nébʰos|t=cloud]], the source of [[nebula]], with the ''-m-'' explained by the influence of [[imber]] “shower”; de Vaan calls this possible but gratuitous.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Pokorny and the OLD set up a nasalized root *nembʰ- “wet”, comparing a Pahlavi and Persian word for moisture, [[pal|namb]].^(Pokorny 1959)^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ The root *nebʰ- is also seen in [[sa|नभस्|tr=nábhas|t=cloud, sky]], [[grc|νέφος|tr=néphos|t=cloud]], [[cu|небо|tr=nebo|t=sky]] and [[hit|nēpiš|t=sky]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in Pacuvius, in the 2nd century BC,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who writes of “the blackness of night and of [[m|en|storm cloud|alt=storm clouds]]”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word meant a rain cloud or thundercloud and a sudden downpour, and was extended to clouds of smoke or sand and to a dense crowd, as of foot soldiers in Virgil.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero used it figuratively for a sudden misfortune that soon passed.^(OLD 2012) Later writers used it for a shower of any liquid, such as spray or perfume, and for a hail of missiles or blows.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ It also named the bright cloud surrounding a god who appears on earth, as Servius explains, and in Christian art the [[m|en|halo]] around the head of a saint.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Niermeyer 1976) English borrowed it in the 1610s for the bright cloud around a divine being.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 220–130 BC – Pacuvius uses it for storm clouds.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it for showers and clouds of sand.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it figuratively for a passing disaster.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil describes Venus surrounded by a cloud.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville uses it for the halo of a saint.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1610s – English borrows it as [[en|nimbus]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A rain cloud, storm cloud; a cloud of smoke or sand.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A dense crowd.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A sudden [[m|en|downpour]]; figuratively, a sudden misfortune.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A shower or spray of liquid; a hail (of missiles, blows).^(OLD 2012)

+ # The bright cloud surrounding a god, ''(Christian Latin)'' a [[m|en|halo]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nimbātus]]

+ * [[nimbifer]]

+ * [[nimbōsus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nebula]]

+ * [[nūbēs]]

+ * [[nūbifer]]

+ * [[nūbigena]]

+ * [[nūbilum]]

+ * [[nūbilus]]

+ * [[imber]]

+ * [[en|nimbus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}