cumulus cloud
3
3.9
- noun
- /ˈkjuːmjələs klaʊd/
:
nube cúmulo
- The sky was filled with beautiful cumulus clouds, marking a perfect day for a picnic.
- cumulus clouds fill the sky
- cumulus clouds on the horizon
- few cumulus clouds
Examples
-
A few tiny cumulus clouds appear to the west.
Fiction book (1991) -
Large cumulus clouds dotted the horizon, particularly over the peaks of the neighboring islands.
Fiction book (1991) -
We're in a cumulus cloud.
-
Look at these cumulus clouds.
-
On the way here, I saw some cumulus clouds.
Fiction book (1994) -
Cumulus clouds on the horizon, always a good sign this time of year.
-
In the summertime, you get tall cumulus clouds with heavy rain out the bottom.
-
Through the window, we saw a single cumulus cloud, brilliant white where it faced the sun, its underside the color of a bruise.
Fiction book (1992) -
There were clouds up there, puffy and pearly cumulus clouds, but not too many.
Fiction book (2000) -
September skies are unusually blue with soaring cumulus clouds, so bring your polarizer.
Academic text (1996)
Synonyms
693
1.0
A group of tiny water drops or ice high in the sky
4
4.9
A white fluffy cloud with a flat base that forms low in the sky
How Fluffy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is fully compositional: 'cumulus' describes a rounded, heaped type and 'cloud' names the atmospheric mass, so a learner who knows both words can directly infer a large, rounded, fluffy cloud. Although 'cumulus' is somewhat technical, the meaning follows standard noun + noun type formation (type of cloud) and similar labelings exist in many languages, making it transparently understandable.
Etymology
Cumulus cloud comes from the old word cumulus, which meant 'heap' or 'pile', because these clouds look like big white heaps or piles of cotton in the sky. That's why cumulus clouds now mean the large, fluffy clouds with rounded tops and flat bottoms we often see on fair days.