облако
oblako
/ˈob.lə.kə/
Definition
A white or grey mass of tiny water drops floating high in the sky; a cloud.
Example
Белые облака плыли по голубому небу.
Show translation
White clouds drifted across the blue sky.
Etymology
From Old East Slavic *облако, derived from Proto-Slavic *oblako, itself from *ob- (around) + a root related to *vlakti (to drag, to wrap). The underlying image is something that "wraps around" or "envelops" — fitting for a cloud that shrouds the sky.
Cultural note
Clouds carry rich symbolism in Russian poetry and folklore. Pushkin and Lermontov famously used облако as a metaphor for freedom and wandering — the lone cloud drifting aimlessly is a classic Romantic image of the untethered soul. In modern Russian, "облако" has also gained a tech meaning: "the cloud" (cloud storage/computing), so you may hear «хранить в облаке» ("to store in the cloud") in everyday digital contexts.