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nebulosity

[neb-yuh-los-i-tee]
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noun, plural neb·u·los·i·ties.
  1. nebulous or nebular matter.
  2. a nebulous form, shape, or mass.
  3. the state or condition of being nebulous.
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Origin of nebulosity

From the Late Latin word nebulōsitās, dating back to 1755–65. See nebulose, -ity
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

gloomvapordarknessfogsmokepuffsmogmistveilsteampothermurkobscurityfrostovercastsmotherscudhazenebulabillow

Examples from the Web for nebulosity

Historical Examples

  • The nebulosity of the ten-foot can be resolved into stars by the twenty-foot, and so on.

    Sir William Herschel: His Life and Works

    Edward Singleton Holden

  • Prof. Barnard adds that the nebulosity is easily visible in a 12-inch telescope.

  • Speculated concerning the Milky Way, the nebulosity of stars, the origin and growth of solar systems.

  • The convolutions of its spiral are filled with numerous starlike condensations, themselves engulfed in nebulosity.

    Astronomy

    David Todd

  • It is the nebulosity out of which the whole came and into which all is ultimately occluded.

    The Mystery of Space

    Robert T. Browne

British Dictionary definitions for nebulosity

nebulosity

noun plural -ties
  1. the state or quality of being nebulous
  2. astronomy a nebula
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for nebulosity

n.

1738, from French nébulosité, from Late Latin nebulositatem (nominative nebulositas), from Latin nebulosus, from nebula (see nebula).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper