caelum, -ī [2/n] (also: coelum):
[i] sky; heaven
[ii] climate; weather;
atmosphere
You need to look at context
to determine exactly what the writer is referring to.
[i]
Pater noster, quī es
in caelīs ¦ our father, who art in heaven [literally: you who
are in the heavens]
in hōc caelō,
quī dīcitur āēr (Lucretius) ¦ in that [part of the] sky which is called air
āēr, āeris [3 m/f]: air
[ii]
caelum hoc, in quō nūbēs
imbrēs ventīque cōguntur (Cicero) ¦ this atmosphere,
where clouds, and rain, and winds are formed
imber, imbris [3/m]: rain
nūbēs, nūbis [3/f]: cloud
ventus, -ī [2/m]: wind
Pingue et concrētum … caelum (Cicero)
¦ a thick and heavy … atmosphere
- caelum serēnum: calm weather
- caelum siccum: dry weather; a sky without rain
- caelum imbridum (Mediaeval): rainy sky; rainy weather
We can use this word as one
way of asking the question:
Quāle caelum est? What’s the
weather like?
False friends …
tempus, temporis [3/n]:
In, for example, French and
Spanish, ‘weather’ is ‘temps’ and ‘tiempo’ respectively: Quel temps fait-il?;
¿Cómo está el tiempo? The French and Spanish words are obviously derived from
Latin tempus, temporis [3/n], but the Classical Latin
word tempus means ‘time’, not ‘weather’; only in Mediaeval
Latin did the word acquire that meaning.
Derivatives:
ventus, -ī [2/m]: wind >
ME: ventilate
If somebody gives you
a nebulous answer, how clear is it?
What does a pluviometer measure?
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