nebulous

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*nébʰos“cloud, vapor, fog, moist, sky”
2. Latin · derived fromnebulōsus“full of mist, foggy, cloudy”
3. Middle French · derived fromnebuleus
4. Middle English · inherited fromnebulous
5. English todaynebulous

Inherited from Middle English nebulous, from Middle French nebuleus, from Latin nebulōsus (“full of mist, foggy, cloudy”), from nebula (“mist, vapour, cloud”), from Proto-Indo-European *nébʰos (“cloud, vapor, fog, moist, sky”). By surface analysis, nebula + -ous. More at neveling, nuel. Cognates * Ancient Greek νέφος (néphos, “cloud”) * German Nebel ** Old High German nebul (“cloud, fog”) * Old English nifol, neowol (“dark, gloomy, obscure, precipitous, prone”)

Words from the same roots