LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinesecond declension

cumulus

cumulus m (genitive cumulī)
Classical[ˈkʊ.mʊ.ɫʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈkuː.mu.lus]

Meaning

  1. masculineheap, pile
  2. masculinesurplus
  3. masculinesummit

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Acervus · Congeries · Strues · Cumulus

1. Acervus and congeries mean ‘heaps’ of homogeneous things collected and piled up in layers; acervus [from ἀγείρω], like σωρός, with arrangement, and mostly in a conical shape, but congeries, negligently, and altogether without regard to shape; strues denotes that something new is produced, and a determinate form given, serving a particular purpose; like θημών. Curt. viii. 7. 11. Passim acervos struesque accendebant; meaning by acervos ‘heaps’ or ‘piles,’ by strues ‘stacks’ of wood. 2. Cumulus (from ἀκμή) means strictly, not the heap itself, but the top, by which the heap is completed as a whole, like the key-stone, by which any thing first reaches its proper and complete height, almost like κορυφή; and it has this meaning particularly in cumulare, which is like κορυφοῦν. Compare Liv. xxii. 59. Superstantes cumulis cæsorum corporum, with Cannenses campos acervi Romanorum corporum tegunt: and xxiii. 5. Molibus ex humanorum corporum strue faciendis. (ii. 118.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativecumuluscumulī
genitivecumulīcumulōrum
dativecumulōcumulīs
accusativecumulumcumulōs
ablativecumulōcumulīs
vocativecumulecumulī

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

aliquid felicitatis cumulum affert
his crowning happiness is produced by a thing; the culminating point of his felicity is...
ad felicitatem (magnus) cumulus accedit ex aliqua re
his crowning happiness is produced by a thing; the culminating point of his felicity is...
cumulum gaudii alicui afferre (vid. sect. V. 6) (Fam. 16. 21. 1)
to add the crowning point to a person's joy.

cŭmŭlus, i, m. Sanscr. çva, to swell; Gr. κυέω, κύω; cf. κῦμα,
I. a heap, as coming to a point, a pile, a mass piled up (class.; esp. freq. in the signif. II.): in hoc immenso aliarum super alias acervatarum legum cumulo, Liv. 3, 34, 6; cf.: hostium coacervatorum, id. 22, 7, 5; 5, 48, 3: corpus obrutum superstratis Gallorum cumulis, id. 9, 29, 19; and: armorum cumulos coacervare id. 5, 39, 1: caesorum corporum, id. 22, 59, 3: saxei, Plin. 31, 10, 46, § 111: eminens (aquae in poculis), id. 2, 65, 65, § 163: aquarum, Ov. M. 15, 508: pulveris, id. ib. 14, 137: harenae, Verg. G. 1, 105: insequitur cumulo praeruptus aquae mons. follows with its mass, id. A. 1, 105; cf. id. ib. 2, 498. —
II. A heap added to an accumulated mass or to a full measure (cf. Paul. ex Fest. s. v. auctarium, p. 14, 17 Müll.), a surplus, overplus, accession, addition, increase; a summit, point, crown, etc., Cic. Prov. Cons. 11, 26: ut ad illam praedam damnatio Sex. Roscii velut cumulus accedat, id. Rosc. Am. 3, 8; cf.: ad summam laetitiam meam magnus ex illius adventu cumulus accedet, id. Att. 4, 19 (18): cumulus commendationis tuae, id. ib. 16, 3, 3; and: cui gloriae amplior adhuc cumulus accessit, Suet. Tib. 17: accesserint in cumulum manubiae vestrorum imperatorum, as an addition, Cic. Agr. 2, 23, 62: aliquem cumulum artibus adferre, id. de Or. 3, 35, 143: magnum beneficium tuum magno cumulo auxeris, id. Fam. 13, 62 fin.; cf. Ov. M. 11, 206: Otho pontificatus honoratis jam senibus cumulum dignitatis addidit, Tac. H. 1, 77: mille equites, cumulus prosperis aut subsidium laborantibus, ducerentur, id. ib. 2, 24 fin.: pro mercedis cumulo, Cic. Att. 1, 16, 5; Ov. M. 14, 472. —
B. In rhet.: peroratio, quam cumulum quidam, alii conclusionem vocant, Quint. 6, 1, 1; cf. id. 7, prooem. § 1; 8, 3, 88.

Origins

Possibly formed as a diminutive of Proto-Indo-European *ḱuh₁-mós (“heap”), from *ḱewh₁- (“to swell”) + *-mós. Cognates from this root include Ancient Greek κῦμᾰ (kûmă, “swell, wave”), Lithuanian saunas (“firm, fit, solid, capable”), and Sanskrit श्वयति (śvayati, “swell”). However, Schrijver thinks the evidence for deriving cumulus from *ḱewh₁- is weak. Proto-Indo-European *-uH- usually became Latin -ū- before a consonant, but De Vaan argues -u- might be the outcome of a regular sound change that shortened pretonic long vowels before resonants (discussed in Schrijver) or alternatively, analogy with tumulus.

Descendants
  • Catalancúmul
  • Frenchcomble
  • Catalancomblefrom French comble
  • Spanishcomblefrom French comble
  • Frenchcumulus
  • Italiancumolo
  • Italiancumulo
  • Portuguesecômoro
  • Portuguesecombro
  • Portuguesecúmulo

Quick answers

What does cumulus mean in Latin?
cumulus, a noun, means “heap, pile; surplus; summit”.
What is the genitive of cumulus?
The genitive singular is cumulī. cumulus is masculine, second declension.
How do you pronounce cumulus?
In classical Latin, [ˈkʊ.mʊ.ɫʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈkuː.mu.lus].