LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinesecond declension

nimbus

nimbus m (genitive nimbī)
Classical[ˈnɪm.bʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈnim.bus]

Meaning

  1. masculinerainstorm, rain shower
  2. masculinerain cloud, thunder cloud, storm cloud
    nimbōrum in patriam, loca fēta furentibus Austrīs, Aeoliam venit. In the homeland of storm clouds, a place teeming with raging South winds, [Queen Juno] reached Aeolia. (See Aeolia (mythical island); Anemoi.)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.51–52
  3. masculinecloud
  4. masculinehalo (visible aura of divine power)
  5. masculinethrong
  6. figurativelymasculinecalamity, tempest

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

nūbēs pluviae subita
nimbus -ī (m) — in Aeneis, ch. 9

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Pluvia · Imber · Nimbus

Pluvia (from πλεῦσαι) denotes rain as a beneficial natural phenomenon, which, as it falls on the land, the thirsty ground absorbs, like ὑετός; imber and nimbus involve the notion of an unfriendly phenomenon, which, falling in a particular district, disperses the fine weather; imber (ὄμβρος, from μύρω) so far as the rain is attended by cold and stormy weather; nimbus (from nivere, νίφα, νίπτω) so far as it is attended with cloudy weather. (ii. 88.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativenimbusnimbī
genitivenimbīnimbōrum
dativenimbōnimbīs
accusativenimbumnimbōs
ablativenimbōnimbīs
vocativenimbenimbī

nimbus, i (
I. gen. plur. nimbūm, Pac. ap. Trag. Rel. 412 Rib.), m. Sanscr. nabhas, cloud, vapor; Gr. νέφος, νεφέλη; cf.: nubes, nebula, a violent or pouring rain, a rain-storm.
I. Lit.: terra abit in nimbos imbremque, Lucil. ap. Varr. L. L. 5, § 24 Müll.: nec nubila nimbis aspergunt, Lucr. 3, 19: terrere animos fulminibus, tempestatibus, nimbis, nivibus, grandinibus, Cic. N. D. 2, 5, 14: denso regem operuit nimbo, Liv. 1, 16: cum multo stillaret paenula nimbo, Juv. 5, 79.—
B. Transf.
1. A black rain-cloud, a thunder-cloud: noctisque et nimbūm occaecat nigror, Pac. ap. Cic. Div. 1, 14, 24, and de Or. 3, 39, 157: involvere diem nimbi, Verg. A. 3, 198; so id. ib. 3, 587; Stat. Th. 1, 97.—
b. A cloud in general. So the bright cloud or cloudshaped splendor which enveloped the gods when they appeared on earth: proprie nimbus est, qui deorum vel imperantium capita quasi clara nebula ambire fingitur, Serv. Verg. A. 3, 585: nimbo succincta, Verg. A. 10, 634: nimbo effulgens, id. ib. 2, 616: nube candentes umeros amictus Augur Apollo, Hor. C. 1, 2, 31.—Hence, in eccl. Lat., of a saint's aureole, Isid. 19, 31, 2.—
(b). A cloud of smoke, dust, etc.: respiciunt atram in nimbo volitare favillam, Verg. A. 5, 666: fulvae nimbus harenae, id. G. 3, 110: pulveris, Claud. in Rufin. 2, 176.—
2. A head-band, frontlet, worn by females to make the forehead appear small, acc. to Isid. Orig. 19, 31 (in Arn. 2, 72, the correct reading is not nimbis, but limbis; v. limbus).—
3. Like the Engl. cloud, of a multitude of things which spread out like a cloud: nimbus peditum, Verg. A. 7, 793: pilorum, Sil. 5, 215: telorum, Luc. 4, 776: velut nimbum glandis et sagittas ingerebant, Liv. 36, 18, 5: lapidum saxorumque, Flor. 3, 8, 4: Corycius, i. e. of saffron, Mart. 9, 39, 5: et Cilices nimbis hic maduere suis, id. Spect. 3, 8: lucerna nimbis ebria Nicerotianis, full of perfumed unguents, id. ib. 10, 38, 8: purpureus, a great quantity of flowers, Claud. Nupt. Honor. et Mar. 298.—
4. A vessel with many holes in it, used at public shows and at entertainments for sprinkling liquid perfumes: nimbus vitreus, Mart. 14, 112 in lemm.—*
II. Trop., a storm, tempest, i. e. sudden misfortune: hunc quidem nimbum cito transisse laetor, Cic. Att. 15, 9, 2.

Origins

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”).

Elsewhere
  • Catalannimbe
  • Catalannimbus
  • Englishnimb
  • Englishnimbus
  • Frenchnimbe
  • Italiannimbo
  • Portuguesenimbo
  • Spanishnimbo
  • Russianнимб
Italo-Dalmatian
  • Italiannembo
  • Istriotnenbo
  • Venetannenbo

Quick answers

What does nimbus mean in Latin?
nimbus, a noun, means “rainstorm, rain shower; rain cloud, thunder cloud, storm cloud; cloud”.
What is the genitive of nimbus?
The genitive singular is nimbī. nimbus is masculine, second declension.
How do you pronounce nimbus?
In classical Latin, [ˈnɪm.bʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈnim.bus].