thunder

      See also thundër

      English

      Etymology

      From Old English þunor, from Proto-Germanic *þunraz, from *þen, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tenh₂- (“to thunder”). Germanic cognates include West Frisian tonger, Dutch donder, German Donner. Other cognates include Persian تندر (tondar), Latin tonō.

      Pronunciation

      Noun

      Wikipedia has an article on:

      Wikipedia thunder (uncountable)

      1. The sound caused by the discharge of atmospheric electrical charge.
        Thunder is preceded by lightning.
      2. A sound resembling thunder.
      3. A deep, rumbling noise.
        Off in the distance, he heard the thunder of hoofbeats, signalling a stampede.
      4. An alarming or startling threat or denunciation.
        • Prescott
          The thunders of the Vatican could no longer strike into the heart of princes.
      5. (obsolete) The discharge of electricity; a thunderbolt.
        • Shakespeare
          The revenging gods / 'Gainst parricides did all their thunders bend.

      Usage notes

      • roll, clap, peal are some of the words used to count thunder.

      Derived terms

      Translations

      sound caused by a lightning
      sound resembling thunder
      deep, rumbling noise
      The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
      Translations to be checked

      See also

      Verb

      thunder (third-person singular simple present thunders, present participle thundering, simple past and past participle thundered)

      1. (intransitive) To make a noise like thunder.
      2. (intransitive) To talk with a loud, threatening voice.
        "Get back to work at once!", he thundered.
      3. (transitive) To say (something) with a loud, threatening voice.
      4. To produce something with incredible power
        • 2011 January 19, Jonathan Stevenson, “Leeds 1 - 3 Arsenal”, BBC:
          Just as it appeared Arsenal had taken the sting out of the tie, Johnson produced a moment of outrageous quality, thundering a bullet of a left foot shot out of the blue and into the top left-hand corner of Wojciech Szczesny's net with the Pole grasping at thin air.

      Derived terms

      • (to say something with a loud, threatening voice): thunderer

      Translations

      to make a noise like thunder
      to talk with a loud, threatening voice
      transitive: say something with a loud, threatening voice
      The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
      Translations to be checked
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      Last modified on 18 June 2013, at 00:32