What does cirrhoses mean?
Cirrhoses is the plural of cirrus, a high-altitude cloud composed chiefly of ice crystals. Individual cirrhoses appear as thin, detached, white wisps, often taking the form of delicate fibres, hooks, or feathery streaks across the sky. Their name reflects the resemblance of their curling forms to locks of hair. Although they can make the atmosphere look calm and delicate, the appearance of increasing or thickening cirrhoses may precede a change in weather, including an approaching warm front. In technical usage, both cirrhoses and cirri are accepted plurals of cirrus, but cirrhoses is especially useful when discussing individual streaks or tufts rather than the cloud type as a whole. The word is primarily associated with formal meteorological and aviation contexts, while the familiar name mares' tails describes the characteristic combed appearance of these clouds.
nounCirrhoses are thin, detached, wispy white clouds that form delicate fibrous, feather-like, or hooked streaks, usually at high altitudes and composed of ice crystals.
- Thin, detached, white, fibrous or hook-shaped streaks of cloud occurring at high altitudes and composed of ice crystals.
"The setting sun turned the high cirrhoses into strands of copper and gold."
"Faint cirrhoses streaked the deep blue morning sky."
"Meteorologists noted that the cirrhoses were thickening ahead of the approaching front."
Cirrhoses is a regular plural of the singular noun cirrus; cirri is also an accepted plural.
"The aircraft passed beneath delicate cirrhoses near the tropopause."
Cirrhoses are among the highest of all clouds, painting the sky with ice-crystal streamers that can precede a storm.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does cirrhoses come from?
Cirrhoses derives from Latin cirrus, meaning a curl or lock of hair. The English word cirrus was applied to the clouds because their fine, curved streaks resemble curling locks. The irregular plural cirrhoses and the alternative plural cirri were both adopted within the established terminology of cloud classification.
Related word forms
How cirrhoses is actually used
Cirrhoses is a specialized meteorological plural and is less usual in general discussion than the singular cloud name cirrus. The alternative plural cirri is also standard.
Easily confused with cirrhoses
Cirrus is the singular form and also the standard name of the cloud type, whereas cirrhoses is a regular plural.