Cumulus - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

cu·mu·lus

Audio Help [kyoo-myuh-luh

s] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural -lus.

1.	a heap; pile.

2.	a cloud of a class characterized by dense individual elements in the form of puffs, mounds, or towers, with flat bases and tops that often resemble cauliflower: as such clouds develop vertically, they form cumulonimbus.

[Origin: 1650–60; < NL (L: mass, pile)

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Cumulus

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

cu·mu·lus Audio Help (kyōōm'yə-ləs) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. cu·mu·li (-lī')

A dense, white, fluffy, flat-based cloud with a multiple rounded top and a well-defined outline, usually formed by the ascent of thermally unstable air masses.
A pile, mound, or heap.

[Latin, heap; see keuə- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
cumulus

1659, "a heap," from L. cumulus "heap," from PIE *ku-m-olo-, suffixed shortened form of base *keue- "to swell" (cf. Skt. svayati "swells up, is strong," Gk. kyein "to swell," Lith. šaunas "firm, solid, fit, capable"). Meteorological use for "rounded mass of clouds" first attested 1803.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

cumulus
noun
1.	a globular cloud
2.	a collection of objects laid on top of each other [syn: pile]

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

cumulus Audio Help (ky

m'yə-ləs) Pronunciation Key
Plural cumuli (ky

m'yə-lī')
A dense, white, fluffy cloud with a flat base, a multiple rounded top, and a well-defined outline. The bases of cumulus clouds form primarily in altitudes below 2,000 m (6,560 ft), but their tops can reach much higher. Cumulus clouds are generally associated with fair weather but can also bring rain when they expand to higher levels. The clouds' edges are well-defined when they are composed of water droplets and fuzzy when made up of ice crystals. See illustration at cloud.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Cumulus

Cloud\ (kloud), n. [Prob. fr. AS. cl[=u]d a rock or hillock, the application arising from the frequent resemblance of clouds to rocks or hillocks in the sky or air.]

1. A collection of visible vapor, or watery particles, suspended in the upper atmosphere.

I do set my bow in the cloud. --Gen. ix. 13.

Note: A classification of clouds according to their chief forms was first proposed by the meteorologist Howard, and this is still substantially employed. The following varieties and subvarieties are recognized: (a) Cirrus. This is the most elevated of all the forms of clouds; is thin, long-drawn, sometimes looking like carded wool or hair, sometimes like a brush or room, sometimes in curl-like or fleecelike patches. It is the cat's-tail of the sailor, and the mare's-tail of the landsman. (b) Cumulus. This form appears in large masses of a hemispherical form, or nearly so, above, but flat below, one often piled above another, forming great clouds, common in the summer, and presenting the appearance of gigantic mountains crowned with snow. It often affords rain and thunder gusts. (c) Stratus. This form appears in layers or bands extending horizontally. (d) Nimbus. This form is characterized by its uniform gray tint and ragged edges; it covers the sky in seasons of continued rain, as in easterly storms, and is the proper rain cloud. The name is sometimes used to denote a raining cumulus, or cumulostratus. (e) Cirro-cumulus. This form consists, like the cirrus, of thin, broken, fleecelice clouds, but the parts are more or less rounded and regulary grouped. It is popularly called mackerel sky. (f) Cirro-stratus. In this form the patches of cirrus coalesce in long strata, between cirrus and stratus. (g) Cumulo-stratus. A form between cumulus and stratus, often assuming at the horizon a black or bluish tint. -- Fog, cloud, motionless, or nearly so, lying near or in contact with the earth's surface. -- Storm scud, cloud lying quite low, without form, and driven rapidly with the wind.

2. A mass or volume of smoke, or flying dust, resembling vapor. "A thick cloud of incense." --Ezek. viii. 11.

3. A dark vein or spot on a lighter material, as in marble; hence, a blemish or defect; as, a cloud upon one's reputation; a cloud on a title.

4. That which has a dark, lowering, or threatening aspect; that which temporarily overshadows, obscures, or depresses; as, a cloud of sorrow; a cloud of war; a cloud upon the intellect.

5. A great crowd or multitude; a vast collection. "So great a cloud of witnesses." --Heb. xii. 1.

6. A large, loosely-knitted scarf, worn by women about the head.

Cloud on a (or the) title (Law), a defect of title, usually superficial and capable of removal by release, decision in equity, or legislation.

To be under a cloud, to be under suspicion or in disgrace; to be in disfavor.

In the clouds, in the realm of facy and imagination; beyond reason; visionary.

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