LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

nebula

nebula f (genitive nebulae)
Classical[ˈnɛ.bʊ.ɫa]Ecclesiastical[ˈnɛː.bu.la]

Meaning

  1. femininefog
  2. femininecloud
  3. femininevapor
  4. New Latinfemininenebula

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

nūbēs humilis, vapor
nebula -ae (f) — in Epistulae, ch. 18

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativenebulanebulae
genitivenebulaenebulārum
dativenebulaenebulīs
accusativenebulamnebulās
ablativenebulānebulīs
vocativenebulanebulae

nĕbŭla, ae, f. like nubes; Sanscr. nabhas; Lat. aër, caelum; Gr. νεφέλη,
I. mist, vapor, fog, smoke, exhalation (syn.: nubes, nimbus).
I. Lit.: fluviis ex omnibus et simul ipsa Surgere de terrā nebulas aestumque videmus, etc., Lucr. 6, 477; Verg. A. 8, 258: tenuem exhalat nebulam, id. G. 2, 217. —Poet., of the clouds: nebulae pluviique rores, Hor. C. 3, 3, 56; Verg. A. 1, 412; 439 (for which, nubes, id. ib. 587; Ov. M. 6, 21. —Of smoke, Ov. Tr. 5, 5, 31.—Of any thing soft or transparent: nebula haud est mollis, atque hujus est, Plaut. Cas. 4, 4, 21: desine Inter ludere virgines Et stellis nebulam spargere candidis, Hor. C. 3, 15, 6.— Prov.: nebulae cyathus, of any thing worthless, trifling, Plaut. Poen. 1, 2, 62.— —Personified = Nephele, Hyg. Fab. 2 and 3.—
B. Transf., a foggy mist, a vapor, cloud: pulveris nebula, Lucr. 5, 253: nebulae dolia summa tegunt, Ov. F. 5, 269: pinguem nebulam vomuere lucernae, Pers. 5, 181; Sil. 6, 281: per nebulam audire, aut scire aliquid, to hear or know a thing indistinctly, Plaut. Ps. 1, 5, 47; id. Capt. 5, 4, 26 (for which: quasi per caliginem videre, Cic. Phil. 12, 2, 2).—
2. A thin, transparent substance; of a thin garment: aequum est induere nuptam ventum textilem, Palam prostare nudam in nebulā lineā, Laber. ap. Petr. 55; of a thin plate of metal, Mart. 8, 33, 3.—
II. Trop., darkness, obscurity: erroris nebula, Juv. 10, 4: nebulae quaestionum, obscure, puzzling questions, Gell. 8, 10 in lemm.: suspicionum nebulae, vague suspicions, Amm. 14, 1, 4.—Of something empty, trifling, worthless: grande locuturi nebulas Helicone legunto, Pers. 5, 7 (for which: nubes et inania captare, Hor. A. P. 230).

Origins

Inherited from Proto-Italic *neβelā, from Proto-Indo-European *nébʰos (“cloud”). Cognate with Ancient Greek νέφος (néphos), νεφέλη (nephélē), Old High German nebul, Sanskrit नभस् (nábhas), Old Church Slavonic небо (nebo). Note that despite similar pronunciation and semantics, not related to nūbēs (“cloud”).

Gallo-Romance
  • Frenchniolufrom Franco-Provençal niola
  • Frenchnieulefrom Old French niule
  • Frenchnieullefrom Old French niule
  • Catalanneula
  • Occitannèbla
  • Frenchnèblefrom Occitan nèbla
  • Occitannèbia
  • Walloonnûlefrom Old French niule
  • Walloonnûlêyefrom Old French niule
Elsewhere
  • Catalannébula
  • Englishnebula
  • Italiannebula
  • Frenchnébule
  • Portuguesenébula
  • Idonebulofrom Esperanto nebulo
  • Finnishnebula
  • Interlinguanebula
  • TranslingualNebula
Insular Romance
  • Sardiniannébida
  • Sardinianneula
Ibero-Romance
  • Portuguesenévoafrom Old Galician-Portuguese nevoa
  • Spanishnieblafrom Old Spanish nevla
  • Galiciannebra
  • Galiciannéboafrom Old Galician-Portuguese nevoa
Balkano-Romance
  • Romaniannegură
  • Aromaniannegurã
  • Aromaniannegure
Italo-Dalmatian
  • Italiannebbia
  • Corsicannebbia
  • Neapolitanneglia
  • Siciliannegghia
  • Siciliannìvula
  • Venetannebia
  • Venetannibia
Rhaeto-Romance
  • Romanshnebla
  • Romanshneabla
Gallo-Italic
  • Emiliannabbia
  • Emiliannèbia
  • Liguriannegia
  • Lombardnébia
  • Piedmontesenebia
  • Romagnolnèbia

Quick answers

What does nebula mean in Latin?
nebula, a noun, means “fog; cloud; vapor”.
What is the genitive of nebula?
The genitive singular is nebulae. nebula is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce nebula?
In classical Latin, [ˈnɛ.bʊ.ɫa]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈnɛː.bu.la].