Cloud - Old English clūd meaning a "mass of rock," from
Proto-Germanic *kludas. Metaphoric extension from the 13th century based
on the similarity of cumulus clouds and rock masses. The Old English
word for "cloud" was weolcan which stayed in English as welkin, an
archaic word for sky.
"The sun of heaven methought was loath to set,
But stay'd and made the western welkin blush" - King John
"Thy hounds shall make the welkin answer them." - Taming of the Shrew
"But shall we make the welkin dance indeed?" - Twelfth Night
"If the winds rage, doth not the sea wax mad, Threatening the welkin with his big-swollen face?" - Titus Andronicus
What does it say about British weather, that a Germanic word for cloud became an English word for sky?
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