Join free

cirrus

English · Français · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

cirrus

  • /ˈsɪɹəs/ US, UK
  • /ˈsɪɹaɪ/ US, UK

Sounds like cirrous · Rhymes with -ɪɹəs

Where it comes from

Learned borrowing from Latin cirrus (“curl; fringe of clothes; mane (especially forelock) of a horse; etc”); further etymology unknown.

Sense 2 (“type of cloud”) was coined by the British chemist and amateur meteorologist Luke Howard (1772–1864): see the 1803 quotation.

The plural form cirri is also a learned borrowing from Latin cirrī, the nominative or vocative plural of cirrus.

noun cirri

  1. Synonym of tendril (“a thin, spirally coiling stem that attaches a plant to its support”). Cirri are taken for thoſe fine Strings, or Hairs, by vvhich ſome Plants faſten themſelves, in order to their Support in creeping along; as Ivy, &c.

    Similar: tendril

  2. A thin tendril-like appendage, such as a barbel (“whisker-like sensory organ around the mouth”) of some fish, a cilium of some species of protists, or a foot of some crustaceans of the infraclass Cirripedia. Each foot is divided into two parts, one dorsal, the other ventral, and each part has a bundle of subulate bristles and a cirrus.
  3. obsolete A tuft of ornamental feathers.
  4. obsolete A long, thin, wirelike tail feather.
  5. attributive, often A principal high-level type of cloud, typically composed of thin, delicate, white filaments or wisps, or narrow bands. [page 99] Cirrus. […] Parallel, flexuous, or diverging fibres, extensible in any or in all directions. […] [page 100] In fair weather, with light variable breezes, the sky is seldom quite clear of small groups of the oblique cirrus, which frequently come on from the leeward, and the direction of the

    Similar: Ci

Translations

Every language

noun synonym of tendril (cognates) — see also tendril

Españolcirro
Portuguêscirro
Italianocirro

noun thin tendril-like appendage

Españolcirrus, cirro
한국어극모 geungmo
Portuguêscirrus
Françaiscirre
DeutschCirrus
Italianocirro
Русскийотро́сток otróstok, у́сик úsik
العربيةذُؤَابَة ḏuʔāba

noun type of cloud typically composed of thin, delicate, white filaments or wisps, or narrow bands

Españolcirro
한국어권운 gwonun
日本語巻雲 ken'un, すじ雲 sujigumo
中文卷雲 /卷云 juǎnyún
हिन्दीपक्षाभ pakṣābh
Kiswahiliwingu vundevunde
Portuguêscirro
Françaiscirrus
DeutschZirrus, Zirruswolke, Federwolke
Italianocirro
Ελληνικάθύσανος thýsanos
Românăcirrus, cirus
Русскийпе́ристое о́блако péristoje óblako, пе́ристый péristyj
Tiếng Việtmây ti
العربيةطَخَاء ṭaḵāʔ
עבריתצירוס

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"cirrus." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/cirrus. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

cirrus. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/cirrus

Chicago

"cirrus." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/cirrus.

BibTeX
@misc{cirrus_2026,
  title = {cirrus},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/cirrus},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}