cumulus

C2 Topic:Weather & Climate

US /ˈkjumjələs/ UK /ˈkjuːmjʊləs/ See IPA manual

Freq #67795

Meanings

1

noun
a dense, white, rounded cloud with a flat base, formed by rising warm air

A darkening cumulus rose above the hills before the storm.
2

noun
a heap, mound, or accumulation of things

A cumulus of ash and broken masonry filled the ruined courtyard.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a dense, white, rounded... cumulus cloudheap cloud

2 noun · a heap, mound, or... heap mound pile

Word family

Forms cumuli

Derived forms pyrocumulusstratocumulus

Related forms cloud convectioncumuliform

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

cumulus cloud
a cloud with a rounded, piled-up appearance

Noun + noun

Etymology

A learned borrowing from Latin cumulus, 'heap or pile.' British meteorologist Luke Howard adopted the term in 1803 for clouds that rise in rounded heaps, creating the modern meteorological sense.

Topics

Weather & Climate

External links

markdown