An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Nebel

by Friedrich Kluge

Nebel, masculine, ‘mist, fog, haze,’ from the equivalent Middle High German nëbel, Old High German nëbul; corresponding to Old Saxon nëbal, masculine, Dutch nevel (in English mist; see Mist). Gothic *nibls is wanting; allied to the Old Icelandic compounds with nifl-, ‘darkness,’ to which njól, ‘night,’ is akin (compare Anglo-Saxon nifol, ‘dark’). Old High German nëbul, from pre-Teutonic nebholo-, corresponds to Greek νεφέλη, ‘cloud, mist,’ Greek νέφος, ‘cloud, mist,’ Latin nĕbula, ‘mist,’ Sanscrit nábhas, neuter, ‘mist, cloud, dampness,’ Old Slovenian nebo (stem nebes-), neuter, ‘sky,’ Old Irish nel, ‘cloud.’