nebula
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (4)nebulae
- a medicinal liquid preparation intended for use in an atomizerType of formulation, preparation
- cloudiness of the urineType of symptom
- an immense cloud of gas (mainly hydrogen) and dust in interstellar spaceType of cloudKinds planetary nebula, diffuse nebula
- (pathology) a faint cloudy spot on the corneaType of spot, speckle
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: L., mist, cloud; akin to Gr. νεφέλη, νέφος, cloud, mist, G. nebel mist, OHG. nebul, D. nevel, Skr. nabhas cloud, mist. Cf. Nebule.
1. Astronomy A faint, cloudlike, self-luminous mass of matter situated beyond the solar system among the stars. The term was originally applied to any diffuse luminous region. Now, technically, it is applied to interstellar clouds of dust and gases (diffuse nebula). However distant galaxies and very distant star clusters often appear like them in the telescope, such as the spiral nebula in Andromeda, known now to be a distant galaxy.
2. Medicine (a) A white spot or a slight opacity of the cornea. (b) A cloudy appearance in the urine. obsolete
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54 · with additions: +PJC
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
<language, data processing> An early business-oriented language from ICL for the Ferranti Orion computer.
["NEBULA - A Programming Language for Data Processing", T.G. Braunholtz et al, Computer J 4(3):197-201 (1961)].
(1994-11-29)