LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininethird declension

nūbēs

nūbēs f (genitive nūbis)
Classical[ˈnuː.beːs]Ecclesiastical[ˈnuː.bes]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. cloud
    Denique saepe geli multus fragor atque ruinaTranslation by William Ellery Leonard And down-pour of swift hail gives forth a sound Among the mighty clouds on high; […]c. 99 BCE – 55 BCE, Lucretius, De rerum natura 6.156–157
  2. swarm, multitude
  3. phantom, something insubstantial
  4. cloudiness, gloominess
  5. concealment, obscurity
  6. figurativelystorm-cloud, the appearance of a coming danger
  7. bad luck, misfortune

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

quae in caelō natant; ex nūbibus pluvia cadit.
nūbēs -is f — in Mille Verba, Caelum et Tempestātēs
vapor albus caelī, pluviae māter
nūbēs -is (f) — in Metamorphoses I, †

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativenūbēsnūbēs
genitivenūbisnūbium
dativenūbīnūbibus
accusativenūbemnūbēs
nūbīs
ablativenūbenūbibus
vocativenūbēsnūbēs

nūbes, is, f. (ante-class. collat. form, nūbis, is, m.:
I. nubis ater, Plaut. Merc. 5 2, 38: nubs for nubes, Liv. Andron. ap. Serv. Verg. A. 10, 636; cf. Aus. Idyll. de Monosyll. Hist. 12, 4) [Sanscr. nabhas, vapor, cloud; Gr. νέφος, νεφέλη; Lat. nubilus, nebula; cf. nimbus, nubo], a cloud.
I. Lit.: aër concretus in nubes cogitur, Cic. N. D. 2, 39, 101: id. Ac. 2, 22, 70: atra nubes Condidit lunam, Hor. C. 2, 16, 2: candida, Vulg. Apoc. 14, 14: aestivis effusus nubibus imber, Verg. G. 4, 312; Ov. M. 8, 339: venti nubes abigunt, Plin. 2, 47, 48, § 126: nube deprendere volucrem jaculis, to bring down a bird from the sky, Sil. 16, 566: usque ad nubes, up to heaven, Vulg. Psa. 35, 6; id. Jer. 51, 9.— Poet.: Sabaeae nubes, the smoke of frankincense, Stat. S. 4, 8, 2.—
B. Transf.
1. A cloud, a dark spot: sudare nubemque discutere, i. e. by the breath, Plin. 33, 8, 44, § 127: crystalla infestantur plurimis vitiis, maculosā nube, etc., id. 37, 2, 10, § 28.—
2. A cloud, thick multitude, dense mass, swarm: locustarum tantae nubes, Liv. 42, 10, 7: Pomptinum velut nubibus locustarum coopertum, id. 42, 2, 4: levium telorum, id. 38, 26: obruti velut nube jaculorum a Balearibus conjectā, id. 21, 55, 6: peditum equitumque, id. 35, 49: (volucrum), Verg. A. 12, 254: nigro glomeratur pulvere nubes, id. ib. 9, 33: muscarum, Plin. 29, 6, 34, § 106: pulveris, Curt. 4, 15, 32: (volucrum) nubem sonoram, Juv. 13, 167: farrea nubes, i. e. porrigo capitis, furfures, Ser. Samm. 3, 34: nubes testium, Vulg. Hebr. 12, 1.—
II. Trop.
A. A cloud, for something unreal or unsubstantial, a phantom: nubes et inania captare, Hor. A. P. 230.—
B. Cloudiness, of a gloomy countenance, of sleep, of drunkenness, of blindness (poet.): deme supercilio nubem, Hor. Ep. 1, 18, 94; Sil. 8, 612: meri, Val. Fl. 3, 65: soporis, Stat. Achill. 1, 646: mortis, id. S. 4, 6, 72: frontis opacae, id. Th. 4, 512.—
C. A gloomy or mournful condition: pars vitae tristi cetera nube vacet, Ov. Tr. 5, 5, 22: omni detersus pectora nube, Stat. S. 1, 3, 109.—
D. A veil, obscurity, concealment: fraudibus obice nubem, Hor. Ep. 1, 16, 62.—
E. A cloud, storm-cloud, i. e. a threatening appearance or approach of misfortune, war: nubem belli, dum detonet omnis, Sustinet, Verg. A. 10, 809: consurgens in Italiā nubes trucis et cruenti belli, Just. 29, 3.

Origins

From Proto-Italic *nouðetis, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)newdʰ-e-ti-s, from *(s)newdʰ- (“to cover”). Cognate with Welsh nudd (“haze”), Avestan 𐬯𐬥𐬀𐬊𐬜𐬀 (snaoδa, “clouds”), Baluchi [script needed] (nod, “raincloud”). Note that despite similar pronunciation and semantics, not related to nebula (“mist, fog”).

Insular Romance
  • Sardiniannube
  • Sardiniannuve
  • Sardiniannue
  • Sardiniannui
Gallo-Romance
  • Frenchnuefrom Old French nue
  • Occitanniu
  • Occitannieu
  • Old Catalannuu
Ibero-Romance
  • Portuguesenuvemfrom Old Galician-Portuguese nuve
  • Spanishnubefrom Old Spanish nuve
  • Falanubifrom Old Galician-Portuguese nuve
  • Galiciannubefrom Old Galician-Portuguese nuve
  • Asturiannube
  • Asturianñube
  • Extremaduranñubi
  • Mirandesenubre
  • Ladinonuvefrom Old Spanish nuve
  • Ladinoנוב׳יfrom Old Spanish nuve
Italo-Romance
  • Italiannube
  • Corsicannube
Gallo-Italic
  • Piedmonteseniu

Quick answers

What does nūbēs mean in Latin?
nūbēs, a noun, means “cloud; swarm, multitude; phantom, something insubstantial”.
What is the genitive of nūbēs?
The genitive singular is nūbis. nūbēs is feminine, third declension.
How do you pronounce nūbēs?
In classical Latin, [ˈnuː.beːs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈnuː.bes].