Indo-European Lexicon
PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes
Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.
Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.
All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.
Pokorny Etymon: 2. enebh- : nebh-, embh-, m̥bh- 'wet, damp; cloud, nimbus; water'
Semantic Field(s): Wet, Damp, Cloud, Mirk, Water
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic | ||||
| Old Irish: | nem | n | sky | LRC |
| Middle Welsh: | nyfel | n | cloud | LRC |
| Welsh: | niwl | n | fog, cloud | LRC |
| English | ||||
| Old English: | neowol | n | fog | LRC |
| English: | imbricate | adj | lying overlapped in regular order | AHD/W7 |
| imbue | vb.trans | to dye/tinge deeply | AHD/W7 | |
| nebula | n | slight cloudy opacity of cornea | AHD/W7 | |
| nebulous | adj | foggy, cloudy | AHD/W7 | |
| nepheline | n | glassy crystalline sodium/potassium/aluminum silicate | AHD/W7 | |
| nephelometer | n | instrument to measure cloudiness | AHD/W7 | |
| nephology | n | meteorology re: clouds | AHD | |
| Nibelung | prop.n | subterranean dwarf (Germanic mythology) | AHD | |
| Nibelung | prop.n | Nibelung | W7 | |
| nimbus | n | luminous cloud/vapor/atmosphere around god/goddess on earth | AHD/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old High German: | nebul | n | fog, darkness | W7 |
| German: | Nebel | n.masc | fog | LRC |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | njól(a) | n | fog, night | LRC |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | imber, imbris | n.masc | rain | W7 |
| imbrex, imbricis | n.masc | pantile | W7 | |
| imbuo, imbuere | vb | to steep, saturate | W7 | |
| nebula | n.fem | fog, mist, cloud | W7 | |
| nebulosus | adj | foggy | W7 | |
| nimbus | n.masc | cloud, halo | W7 | |
| Late Latin: | imbrico, imbricāre, imbricāvī, imbricātus | vb | to cover with pantiles | W7 |
| French: | néphéline | n.fem | nepheline | W7 |
| Baltic | ||||
| Lithuanian: | *nebesis | n | cloud | LRC |
| Latvian: | debess | n.fem | sky, heaven | LRC |
| Slavic | ||||
| Old Church Slavonic: | nebesьnъ | adj | heavenly, of heaven | LRC |
| nebesьskъ | adj | heavenly, of heaven | LRC | |
| nebo | n.neut | sky, heaven | LRC | |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Homeric Greek: | νέφος | n.neut | cloud | LRC |
| Greek: | νεφέλη | n.fem | mist, cloud | LRC |
| ombros | n.masc | rain | W7 | |
| Anatolian | ||||
| Hittite: | nepis | n | sky | LRC |
| Iranian | ||||
| Pahlavi: | namb | n | mist | W7 |
| Avestan: | napta- | adj | moist, humid | LRC |
| Indic | ||||
| Sanskrit: | nábhas- | n | fog, mist, cloud | LRC |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| prop | = | proper |
| trans | = | transitive |
| vb | = | verb |
Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):
| Code | Citation | |
|---|---|---|
| AHD | = | Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
