cloudling

From cloud +‎ -ling.

cloudling (plural cloudlings)

1. A small or miniature cloud; an immature or formative stage in the development of a cloud.
   • 1894, George Smith, William Makepeace Thackeray, John St. Loe Strachey, The Cornhill magazine:

     And yet at first it seemed hard to believe that so innocent a cloudling could be the progenitor of mist dense enough to blot out even a section of the enormous landscape.

   • 2009, Chloe Aridjis, Book of clouds:

     “I'll give you an example: a cloudling may coalesce one morning and rise to the sky, ready to meander across the horizon for a few hours before joining a bank of other cloudlings.

• colluding