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cumulus

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cu⋅mu⋅lus

  [kyoo-myuh-luhs]
Use cumulus in a Sentence
–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
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cu·mu·lus   (kyōōm'yə-ləs)   
n.   pl. cu·mu·li (-lī')

  1. 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.

  2. A pile, mound, or heap.


[Latin, heap; see keuə- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: cu·mu·lus
Pronunciation: 'kyü-my&-l&s
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural cu·mu·li /-"lI,-"lE/
: the projecting mass of granulosa cells that bears the developing ovum in a graafian follicle called also discus proligerus
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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