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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

cloud-cuckoo-land en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /klaʊdˈkukulænd/
  • /klaʊdˈkʊkuːlænd/

Etymology

Etymology tree English cloud English cuckoo Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-om Proto-Germanic *landą Proto-West Germanic *land Old English land Middle English lond English land ▲ Ancient Greek Νεφελοκοκκυγία (Nephelokokkugía)calq. English cloud-cuckoo-land By surface analysis, cloud + cuckoo + land. Calque of Ancient Greek Νεφελοκοκκυγία (Nephelokokkugía), from Aristophanes.

Meanings

  1. (uncountable) An imaginary place where silly or unrealistic people metaphorically reside.
    • That glabrous dome that lifts itself so grand, / There in the marish, is the omphalos, / The navel, umbo, middle, central boss / Of the unique, sole, true Cloud-Cuckoo Land. 1916, Aldous Huxley, “The Walk”, in The Burning Wheel:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
cloud cuckoo-land alternative lexicographic
cloudcuckooland alternative lexicographic
cloud cuckoo land alternative lexicographic

Relateds

nephelococcygia

Synonyms

never-never land

Translations (17)

cs Mrakoptakohrad (Aristophanes, transl. Jiří Žáček 1986) (imaginary place with unrealistic or silly people) · de Schilda (imaginary place with unrealistic or silly people) · ru ска́зочная страна́ (imaginary place with unrealistic or silly people) · ru мир грёз (imaginary place with unrealistic or silly people) · es estar en los cielos (imaginary place with unrealistic or silly people) · el Νεφελοκοκκυγία (imaginary place with unrealistic or silly people) · fi Hölmölä (imaginary place with unrealistic or silly people) · grc Νεφελοκοκκυγία (imaginary place with unrealistic or silly people) · fi Pilvikukkula (Aristophanes, transl. Kaarlo Hirvonen 1972) (imaginary place with unrealistic or silly people) · fr Coucouville-les-Nuées (imaginary place with unrealistic or silly people) · ru страна́ э́льфов (imaginary place with unrealistic or silly people) · pt Cucolândia das Nuvens (imaginary place with unrealistic or silly people) · la Abdēra n pl and (imaginary place with unrealistic or silly people) · pl Chmurny Kukułczyn (imaginary place with unrealistic or silly people) · cs Kocourkov (imaginary place with unrealistic or silly people) · de Wolkenkuckucksheim (imaginary place with unrealistic or silly people) · sk Kocúrkovo (imaginary place with unrealistic or silly people)

wikipedia: Aristophanes