cirrocumulus
nounUK /ˌsɪɹə(ʊ)ˈkjuːmjʊləs/ · US /ˌsɪɹoʊˈkjumjələs/
Etymology From cirro- + cumulus, coined by the British chemist and amateur meteorologist Luke Howard (1772–1864): see the 1803 quotation.
1
Climatology, Meteorology, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics A principal high-level cloud type appearing as a thin, white patch of cloud without shadows, composed of very small droplets in the form of grains or ripples. The elements may be merged or separate, and more or less regularly arranged; they subtend an angle of less than 1° when observed at an angle of more than 30° above the horizon. Holes or rifts often occur in a sheet of cirrocumulus.
- [page 99] Cirro-cumulus. […] Small, well defined roundish masses, in close horizontal arrangement. […] [page 102] The cirro-cumulus is formed from a cirrus, or from a number of small separate cirri, by the fibres collapsing as it were, and passing into small roundish masses, in which the texture of the cirrus is no longer discernible, although they still retain somewhat of the same relative arrangement.1803 July, Luke Howard, “XVIII. On the Modifications of Clouds, and on the Principles of Their Production, Suspension, and Destruction; being the Substance of an Essay Read before the Askesian Society in the Session 1802–3.”, in Alexander Tilloch, editor, The Philosophical Magazine and Journal: Comprehending the Various Branches of Science, the Liberal and Fine Arts, Agriculture, Manufactures, and Commerce, volume XVI, number 62, London: […] [Richard Taylor] for Alexander Tilloch; and sold by Messrs. Richardson, […], →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 99 and 102: