Etymology

stratus

stra·tus
S1T1R1A1T1U1S1

Today it means: A principal, low-level cloud type in the form of a gray layer with a rather uniform base, usually not associated with precipitation, and capable of producing corona phenomena and a weak, uniform luminance. Full definition →

Latin stratu ← Proto-Italic *strātos ← Proto-Indo-European *str̥h₃tós
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ster-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*sterh₃-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*str̥h₃tós
  4. Proto-Italic*strātos
  5. Latinstratu
  6. English todaystratus

Learned borrowing from Latin strātus (“spread or stretched out”). Coined by the British chemist and amateur meteorologist Luke Howard (1772–1864): see the 1803 quotation. Doublet of strath.

Words from the same roots

Latinstrātus all →

streetstratiformstratocumuliform

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.