nimbus

A cloudy radiance said to surround a classical deity when on earth.

A radiant light that appears usually in the form of a circle or halo about or over the head in the representation of a god, demigod, saint, or sacred person such as a king or an emperor.

A splendid atmosphere or aura, as of glamour, that surrounds a person or thing.

A rain cloud, especially a low dark layer of clouds such as a nimbostratus.

A cloud or system of clouds from which rain is falling; a rain-cloud. See cloud .

In art and Christian archæol., a halo or disk of light surrounding the head in representations of divine or sacred personages; also, a disk or circle sometimes depicted in early times round the heads of emperors and other great men.

In heraldry, a circle formed of a single line, drawn around the head and disappearing where it seems to go behind it.

A circle, or disk, or any indication of radiant light around the heads of divinities, saints, and sovereigns, upon medals, pictures, etc.; a halo. See aureola, and glory, n., 5.

A rain cloud; one of the four principal varieties of clouds. See Cloud.

A circle of light; a halo.