cloud (English)
Where does "cloud" come from?
The word 'cloud' originates from the Proto-Indo-European root *gel-, meaning to ball up or clench. It evolved through Proto-Germanic into Old English as 'clūd,' a term originally referring to a mass of stone or a boulder. Over time, the meaning shifted from a solid lump of rock to the floating, amorphous masses of vapor we recognize today, eventually superseding the older Germanic term 'welkin'.
Full etymology tree
- cloud (English), 'A rock; boulder; a hill.'
- inherited cloud (Middle English), 'A cloud (mass of water vapour).'
- inherited clūd (Old English), 'stone; rock; boulder'
- inherited *klūt (Proto-West Germanic)
- inherited *klūtaz (Proto-Germanic), 'lump, clod'
- inherited *glewdos (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived *gel- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to be cold, to freeze'
- inherited *glewdos (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *klūtaz (Proto-Germanic), 'lump, clod'
- inherited *klūt (Proto-West Germanic)
- inherited clūd (Old English), 'stone; rock; boulder'
- inherited cloud (Middle English), 'A cloud (mass of water vapour).'
Direct ancestors
- cloud (Middle English)
- clud (Old English)
- klūtaz (Proto-Germanic)
- gel- (Proto-Indo-European)
- kluit (Dutch)
- Kloß (German)
- klode (Danish)
- klot (Swedish)
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris