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Chris -- 2018-04-11
We get our word “cumulus†from the name of a steatopygous, angry, incontinent Roman God.
Sorry, bad source. “Cumulus†actually derives from a Latin noun for “heap, mound.†It may remind people of “cumulative,†and it should—“cumulative†derives from a Latin verb related to the “cumulus†noun. (Those wishing to know whether the noun or verb came first in Latin should consult their household grammaticus. )
“Cumulus†was introduced into English in the early 1800s as a techy meteorological term for a certain type of flat-bottomed, puffy, low-level cloud. By about 1850, it had become a widely used and recognized term. The career of “cumulative†in English is longer—it first arrived in the 17th century as an inkhorn term.
It is a small linguistic step to replace the semi-technical “cumulus†with “cumulative.†In some cases, the step could result in an eggcorn—if the speaker really believed that the technical name for the cloud type was “cumulative.â€
Some examples. Interestingly, a number of the Google hits cluster in the Middle East and Russia. The confusion appears to proliferate in these places by being embedded in some faulty language translation software.
Title of stock images: “ Cumulative clouds imagesâ€
1970 book on the prophecies of Melchi-Zedek: “Masses of cumulative clouds, measured on photographs, are in Teleois proportionsâ€
A Russian-slanted English article site: “As a rule, cumulative clouds are found in calm clear days and indicate good weather.â€
Yemen site weather forecast (looks like a translation): “ cumulative clouds are formed and thunder may sometimes accompany it on parts of the western mountainous highlandsâ€
Russian site with English articles (looks like a translation): “The cosmonaut has repeatedly seen how giant water dome rises on the surface of the sea, around which cumulative clouds are aroundâ€
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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Makes sense – wispy clumps of cloud can grow in a cumulative manner, and diminish by reversing the process. But it does seem a pity that cumulus is not after all derived from Camulus the ancient Romano-Celtic god. I had to look up steatopygous of course, and found it refers to the ilk of voluminous buttock currently sported by certain celebrities. Such accumulation of excessive tissue would have helped confirm the god’s big bum as the source of the cloud’s name.
I recently heard someone refer to Columbus clouds – moving from east to west perhaps or feathery white clouds since the names of both Columbus and Saint Columba come from the Latin for dove.
Basically speaking, Columbus clouds refer to a type of cloud that is known to bring rain.
Next thing I knew, I was on my tush looking up at the columbus clouds floating by. Since no one saw it happen, it was all good.
The light of the Moon was getting dimmer as the Columbus nimbus clouds covered it.
The sun shone through silver-lined Columbus Nimbus clouds as we drove past Château Rieussec.
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Perhaps “columbus” as a cloud type is some kind of mashup of “nimbus” and “cumulus.” The blend already exists—”cumulonimbus.”
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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