Clouds...we see them almost every day and there is a name for almost every different kind.
The three basic cloud types are classified according to height and texture. High-Level clouds (over 20,000 ft) have the prefix-Cirro. Mid-Level clouds (6,500-20,000 ft) have the prefix-Alto. The lowest level of cloud is called either stratus or cumulus. Stratus are flat, sheet-like clouds. Cumulus are the puffy, cotton ball-type clouds.
If the word Nimbus is anywhere in the cloud name, it means rain producer. Nimbostratus or Cumulonimbus are good examples of rain clouds.
Clouds at any level can be either sheet-like (stratus) or puffy (cumulus).
So cirrocumulus clouds would be very high puffy clouds, while altostratus would be mid-level sheet-like clouds.