nimbus

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin nimbus (“dark cloud”). Doublet of nimb.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɪm.bəs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪmbəs

Noun

nimbus (plural nimbi or nimbuses)

1. A circle of light; a halo.
2. A gray rain cloud.

Usage notes

• (circle of light): In heraldry and art, a nimbus may be considered distinct from a halo. The term halo can refer to an open ring of light or of gold behind the head of a saint, while nimbus refers to a solid disk of light or gold.

Synonyms

• (circle of light): halo

Related terms

• nimbed

Translations

See also

• halo

Catalan

Alternative forms

• nimbe

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin nimbus. Doublet of nimbe.

Noun

nimbus m (invariable)

1. nimbus (cloud)

Further reading

• “nimbus” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Finnish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin nimbus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnimbus/,
• Rhymes: -imbus
• Syllabification^(key): nim‧bus

Noun

nimbus

1. Synonym of sadepilvi (“nimbus”)

Declension

Latin

Etymology

Seemingly from Proto-Indo-European *nébʰos (“cloud”) with an *-n- infix, but the formal details are disputed. Possibly contaminated either by a zero-grade variant *imbus or by the related word imber (“rain”), if not borrowed from another Indo-European language. Cognates include Latin nebula, Proto-Slavic *nebo (“heaven, sky”), Sanskrit नभस् (nábhas, “sky”) and Ancient Greek νέφος (néphos, “cloud”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈnim.bus/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈnim.bus/,

Noun

nimbus m (genitive nimbī); second declension

1. rainstorm, rain shower
2. rain cloud, thunder cloud, storm cloud
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.51–52:

     nimbōrum in patriam, loca fēta furentibus Austrīs,
     Aeoliam venit.

     In the homeland of storm clouds, a place teeming with raging South winds, reached Aeolia.
     (See Aeolia (mythical island); Anemoi.)

3. cloud
4. halo (visible aura of divine power)
5. throng
6. (figuratively) calamity, tempest

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Descendants

See also

• nebula
• nūbēs
• nūbifer
• nūbigena
• nūbilum
• nūbilus

References

• “nimbus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “nimbus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• nimbus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• nimbus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin nimbus, from Proto-Indo-European *nébʰos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɲim.bus/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -imbus
• Syllabification: nim‧bus

Noun

nimbus m inan

1. nimbus (rain cloud)
2. (archaic, art, Christianity) aureole, glory, halo, nimbus (luminous disc around the heads of saints in sacred art)

   Synonyms: aureola, gloria, nimb

Declension

Further reading

• nimbus in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• nimbus in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French nimbus.

Noun

nimbus m (plural nimbuși)

1. nimbus

Declension

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

nimbus m (Cyrillic spelling нимбус)

1. (religion) halo
2. nimbus

Synonyms

• oreol