nimbus (Latin, noun) - a rainstorm or rain cloud

From the Dictionary.com entry:

• 1. Classical Mythology. a shining cloud sometimes surrounding a deity when on earth.


• 2. a cloud, aura, atmosphere, etc., surrounding a person or thing: The candidate was encompassed with a nimbus of fame.


• 3. halo (def. 1).


• 4. the type of dense clouds or cloud mass with ragged edges, that yields rain or snow; a rain cloud.

I always thought of a nimbus as #1, a glowing cloud, more like a corona or halo. The connection to cumulonimbus had somehow escaped me.

I had been looking for words meaning "rain". My short list this time included:

• Dutch (regen)


• Danish (regn)


• Finnish (sataa, which incidentally is Chinese for "kill him/her/it")


• Vietnamese (mưa, which is just fun to say)


• Tagalog (ulan)

Also, I can't believe this is my first Latin Cool Word of the Month, after several dozen! It's not as if I have been restricting them to living languages, or even real ones.

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Banazir