nuée

Nuée is a feminine French noun meaning a dense mass that moves or exists in the air. The term covers several related senses: a swarm of insects or birds moving in a coordinated, often rapid, mass; a cloud or cloud-like mass of particles such as smoke, dust, or pollen; and, by extension, a figurative sense referring to a large number of people or objects appearing or acting together.

Etymology and usage: Nuée derives from Old French nuée and is cognate with nuage; both ultimately come from Latin nubes, meaning cloud. The word emphasizes bulk and collective movement rather than the individuality of its members. In ecology and entomology, nuée is used to describe swarm phenomena, such as a nuée de sauterelles (locusts) or a nuée d'oiseaux. In other contexts, it can describe a meteorological or atmospheric mass, for example a nuée de poussière or nuée de fumée.

In culture and media, Nuée is used as a proper name and as a title in various contemporary French works, including music, cinema, and literature, where it is chosen to evoke massness, intensity, or transformation. The usage is typically metaphorical, linking natural collective motion to human or artistic phenomena.

See also: Nuage, Swarm, Cloud.