English
cloud
Cloud comes from Old English clūd ‘mass of rock, hill’, from Proto-Germanic *klūtaz ‘lump’, from Proto-Indo-European *gel- ‘to ball up’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gel-‘to ball up’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*glewdos‘lump’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*klūtaz‘lump’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*klūt‘lump, mass’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150clūd‘mass of stone’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cloud‘a cloud’
- Englishearliest quotation 1595same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gel-‘to ball up’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*glewdos‘lump’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*klūtaz‘lump’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*klūt‘lump, mass’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150clūd‘mass of stone’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cloud‘a cloud’
- Englishearliest quotation 1595same form
Earliest quotation: 1595, The Life and Death of King Richard the Second: “One day too late, I fear me, noble lord,…”
The story
Largely replaced Middle English welkne, from Old English wolcn (whence English welkin), from Proto-Germanic *wulkną, the original Germanic word for cloud (compare Dutch wolk, German Wolke, North Frisian and West Frisian wolk).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gel- ‘to ball up, clench’
children, child, cold, clean, chill, globe, gel, jelly, cluster, colt, gelatin, gelato, glebe, ganglion, clot, klutz, clough, globus, globulin, clod, 48 more
through Proto-West Germanic *klūt
Today it means
noun A visible mass of water droplets suspended in the air.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gel- / cloud