thunder

See also: Thunder and thundër

English

Etymology

From Middle English thunder, thonder, thundre, thonre, thunnere, þunre, from Old English þunor (“thunder”), from Proto-West Germanic *þunr, from Proto-Germanic *þunraz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ten-, *(s)tenh₂- (“to thunder”).

Compare astound, astonish, stun. Germanic cognates include West Frisian tonger, Dutch donder, German Donner, Old Norse Þórr (English Thor), Danish torden, Norwegian Nynorsk tore. Other cognates include Persian (tondar), Latin tonō, detonō, Ancient Greek στένω (sténō), στενάζω (stenázō), στόνος (stónos), Στέντωρ (Sténtōr), Irish torann, Welsh taran, Gaulish Taranis. Doublet of donner, Thunor, and Thor.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈθʌndə/
(General American) enPR: thŭn′dər, IPA^(key): /ˈθʌndɚ/
Audio (US): (file)
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -ʌndə(ɹ)
Hyphenation: thun‧der

Noun

English Wikipedia has an article on:

thunder

Wikipedia

thunder (countable and uncountable, plural thunders)

The loud rumbling, cracking, or crashing sound caused by expansion of rapidly heated air around a lightning bolt.
Thunder is preceded by lightning.
- 1953 July, Allen Rowley, “First Impressions of American Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 493:
  With each clap of thunder echoing from one high building to another the noise was terrific.
A deep, rumbling noise resembling thunder.
Off in the distance, he heard the thunder of hoofbeats, signalling a stampede.
An alarming or startling threat or denunciation.
- 1847, William H. Prescott, A History of the Conquest of Peru:
  The thunders of the Vatican could no longer strike into the heart of princes.
(obsolete) The discharge of electricity; a thunderbolt.
- c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
  The revenging gods / 'Gainst parricides did all their thunders bend.
(literature) Synonym of thunder word
- 1996, William York Tindall, A Reader's Guide to Finnegans Wake, page 31:
  Adam's fall and Vico's thunder are embodied in a word of a hundred letters, the first of ten thunders in the Wake.

Usage notes

roll, clap, peal are some of the words used to count thunder e.g. A series of rolls/claps/peals of thunder were heard

Derived terms

Descendants

→ Alemannic German: Thönder
→ Japanese: サンダー (sandā)
→ Tagalog: tanders
→ Tok Pisin: tanda

Translations

sound caused by lightning

Abkhaz: aдыд (adəd)
Adyghe: шыблэ (šəblɛ)
Albanian: bubullimë (sq) f, mumrimë f
Arabic: رَعْد (ar) m (raʕd)
Egyptian Arabic: رعد m (raʕd)

Hijazi Arabic: رعد m (raʕad, raʕd)

Moroccan Arabic: رعد m (raʕd)
Aramaic:
Classical Syriac: ܪܥܡܐ m (raʿmā)
Armenian: որոտ (hy) (orot)
Assamese: ঢেৰেকনি (dherekoni), ঢেৰেক (dherek)
Asturian: troníu (ast) m, tronabríu (ast) m, tronada (ast) f, truenu (ast) m, renuberu (ast) m
Atayal: matus bisuw
Azerbaijani: göy gurultusu, ildırım (az)
Balinese: grudug
Belarusian: гром m (hrom), грымоты pl (hrymóty)
Bengali: বজ্রধ্বনি (bn) (bojroddhoni)
Bikol Central: dalugdog (bcl), daguldol (bcl)
Brunei Malay: guruh
Bulgarian: гръм (bg) m (grǎm)
Burmese: မိုးကြိုး (my) (mui:krui:)
Carpathian Rusyn: грум m (hrum)
Catalan: tro (ca) m
Cebuano: dalugdog
Chamicuro: tswali
Chechen: къовкъа (qʼovqʼa)
Cherokee: ᎠᏴᏓᏆᎶᏍᎬ (ayvdaqualosgv)
Chichewa: bingu
Chinese:
Cantonese: 雷 (leoi⁴), 雷聲 / 雷声 (leoi⁴ sing¹), 雷鳴 / 雷鸣 (leoi⁴ ming⁴)

Eastern Min: 雷公 (lài-gŭng)

Hakka: 雷 (lùi), 雷公 (lùi-kûng)

Hokkien: 雷 (zh-min-nan) (lûi), 雷公 (zh-min-nan) (lûi-kong)

Mandarin: 雷 (zh) (léi), 雷聲 / 雷声 (zh) (léishēng), 雷鳴 / 雷鸣 (zh) (léimíng)

Wu: 雷 (⁶le)
Chuvash: аслати (aslat̬i)
Czech: hrom (cs) m, zahřmění n
Dalmatian: tun m
Danish: torden (da) c
Dutch: donder (nl) m
Dzongkha: འབྲུག་སྐད ('brug skad)
Erzya: пурьгине (puŕgine)
Esperanto: tondro (eo), fulmsono
Estonian: kõu
Even: агди (agʒi)
Evenki: агды (agdi)
Faroese: tora f
Finnish: jyrinä (fi), jyrähdys (fi)
Franco-Provençal: tonêrro m
French: tonnerre (fr) m
Friulian: ton, tonade
Galician: trono (gl) m, tróo m, bruio m, orzán m, trouso m, trebón (gl) m
Georgian: ქუხილი (kuxili), ჭექა-ქუხილი (č̣eka-kuxili)
German: Donner (de) m
Gothic: 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐍈𐍉 f (þeiƕō)
Greek: βροντή (el) f (vrontí)
Greenlandic: kalleq
Guaraní: sunu
Haitian Creole: loray
Hamer-Banna: gimbát
Hausa: tarnatsa
Hebrew: רַעַם (he) m (ra'am)
Higaonon: lugung
Hindi: गरज (hi) f (garaj), गड़गड़ाहट (hi) f (gaṛagṛāhaṭ), राद (hi) (rād), गर्जन (hi) m (garjan)
Hungarian: mennydörgés (hu), égzengés (hu)
Icelandic: þruma (is) f
Ido: tondro (io)
Indonesian: guntur (id), guruh (id)
Ingrian: ukko, jyry, jyrinä, ukonjyry
Interlingua: tonitro
Iranun: dalendeg
Irish: toirneach (ga) m
Italian: tuono (it) m
Japanese: 雷 (ja) (kaminari), 雷鳴 (ja) (raimei)
Javanese: bledhèg, gludhug (jv)
Kalmyk: лу (lu)
Kazakh: күн күркіреу (kün kürkıreu), күркіреу (kürkıreu)
Khmer: ផ្គរ (km) (pkɔɔ)
Klamath-Modoc: lmeys
Komi-Zyrian: гым (gym)
Korean: 우레 (ko) (ure), 천둥 (ko) (cheondung)
Kott: ajak
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: birûsk (ku)
Kyrgyz: күркүрөө (ky) (kürküröö)
Lao: ຟ້າຮ້ອງ (lo) (fā hǭng)
Latgalian: pārkiuņs
Latin: tonitrus m, tonitruum n, tonus m
Latvian: pērkons m
Lepcha: ᰠᰌᰬᰲ (sader)
Lezgi: гугрум (gugrum)
Limburgish: dónder (li) n
Lithuanian: griaustinis
Lokono: kulakani
Luxembourgish: Dimmer m, Donner m
Macedonian: гром (mk) m (grom)
Maguindanao: dalendeg
Malagasy: ampy (mg)
Malay: guruh (ms), guntur (ms)
Malayalam: ഇടി (ml) (iṭi)
Maltese: ragħad m
Manchu: ᠠᡴᠵᠠᠨ (akjan)
Mansaka: rugung
Manx: taarnagh m
Maore Comorian: guguma
Maori: whaitiri
Maranao: dalendeg, rogong
Marathi: गर्जना f (garjanā), डरकाळी f (ḍarkāḷī), गडगडाट f (gaḍagḍāṭ)
Mari:
Eastern Mari: кӱдырчӧ (küdyrčö)

Western Mari: хӹдӹртӹш (hÿdÿrtÿš)
Mon: ဓဂဵု
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: аянга (mn) (ajanga)
Nanai: агди (agʒi)
Navajo: iiʼniʼ
Ngarrindjeri: munti
Northern Sami: baján
Northern Thai: ᨼ᩶ᩣᩁᩬ᩶ᨦ
Norwegian:
Bokmål: torden (no) m

Nynorsk: tore f
Nyunga: koondarnangor
Occitan: tron (oc) m, tronada m
Odia: ଗର୍ଜନ (or) (garjana)
Old English: þunor m
Old High German: donar
Old Norse: þórr m
Oromo: bakakkaa
Ossetian: ӕрвнӕрын (ærvnæryn)
Persian: تندر (fa) (tondar), رعد (fa) (ra'd)
Plautdietsch: Donna
Polish: grzmot (pl) m, grom (pl) m (dated, poetic)
Portuguese: trovão (pt) m
Quechua: q'aqya
Rhine Franconian: Dunner
Romagnol: tràun m
Romanian: tunet (ro) n
Romansch: tun m, tung m
Russian: гром (ru) m (grom)
Samoan: fai'titili, ta'alili
Sanskrit: गर्जन (sa) n (garjana)
Sardinian: tronu
Scots: thunner
Scottish Gaelic: tàirneanach m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: гром m, грмљавина f

Roman: grom (sh) m, grmljavina (sh) f
Shan: ၽႃႉလင် (phâ̰a lǎng)
Sicilian: tronu (scn) m
Sidamo: banqo
Sinhalese: විදුලි කෙටීම (widuli keṭīma)
Slovak: hrom (sk) m
Slovene: grom (sl) m, grmenje n
Solos: pina
Somali: onkod (so)
Sorbian:
Upper Sorbian: hrimanje n
Southern Altai: кӱркӱреш (kürküreš)
Spanish: trueno (es) m
Sranan Tongo: dondru
Sumerian: 𒅗𒀭𒉌𒋛
Sundanese: guludug (su)
Swahili: ^{(please verify)} radi (sw) class 9/10
Swedish: åska (sv) c, (åsk) smäll c, dunder (sv) c
Tabasaran: гугрум (gugrum)
Tagalog: kulog
Tai Dam: ꪡ꫁ꪱꪵꪠ꫁ (ꞌphạ phẻ)
Tajik: тундар (tundar), раъд (tg) (raʾd)
Tamil: இடி (ta) (iṭi)
Taos: nąłàcitʼə́otuna
Tarifit: ajjaj m
Tausug: daugdug
Telugu: ఉరుము (te) (urumu)
Tetum: rai-tarutu
Thai: ฟ้าร้อง (th) (fáa-rɔ́ɔng)
Tibetan: ལྡིར་སྒྲ (ldir sgra)
Turkish: gök gürültüsü (tr), yıldırım (tr)
Turkmen: ýyldyrym
Tutelo: tuhangrua
Tuvan: диңмирээшкин (diñmireeşkin)
Udmurt: гудыри (gudyri)
Ugaritic: 𐎗𐎓𐎚 (rʿt)
Ukrainian: грім m (hrim)
Urdu: گرج f (garaj), گڑگڑاہٹ f (gaṛgaṛāhaṭ), رعد m (raʿd)
Uzbek: momaqaldiroq (uz)
Venetan: ton (vec) m
Vietnamese: sấm (vi)
Volapük: töt
Walloon: tonire (wa) f, tonoere (wa) f
Waray-Waray: dalugdog
Welsh: taranau f pl, tyrfau m pl, trystau m pl
West Flemish: dunder m
West Frisian: tonger c
Western Bukidnon Manobo: ruɣung
Winnebago: kʼoo
Woiwurrung: ngurndabil
Yakut: этиҥ (etiñ)
Yámana: kalaša
Zazaki: gumlerz
Zhuang: byajraez

sound resembling thunder

Armenian: որոտ (hy) (orot)
Bulgarian: гърмеж (bg) m (gǎrmež)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 轟鳴 / 轰鸣 (zh) (hōngmíng)
Czech: zahřmění n, hromová rána f, hřmění (cs) n
Dutch: gedonder (nl) m
Finnish: jyrinä (fi), jyrähtely (fi)
Galician: balbordo m, trouso m
German: Donnern (de) n
Greek: κεραυνός (el) m (keravnós)
Hungarian: dörgés (hu)
Italian: rombo (it) m, schianto (it) m, boato (it) m
Japanese: 雷鳴 (ja) (raimei)
Polish: grzmot (pl) m
Portuguese: trovoada (pt) f
Rhine Franconian: Dunner
Russian: гром (ru) m (grom), гро́хот (ru) m (gróxot)
Scottish Gaelic: tàirneanach m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: тутањ m

Roman: tutanj (sh) m
Slovene: grmenje n
Swedish: åskmuller (sv) n, muller (sv) n, åskdån n, dån (sv) n
Ukrainian: грім m (hrim), гу́ркіт m (húrkit)

deep, rumbling noise

Bulgarian: грохот (bg) (grohot)
Czech: hřmění (cs) n, dunění (cs) n
Dutch: gerommel (nl) n
Finnish: jyrinä (fi), jylinä (fi), pauhu
Galician: estoiro m, estrondo m, estourea f, balbordo m, bruiamento m, abousamento m
German: Donnern (de) n
Hungarian: robaj (hu)
Irish: tormán m
Italian: fragore (it) m, frastuono (it) m
Japanese: 轟音 (ja) (gōon)
Kott: ajak
Polish: grzmot (pl) m
Portuguese: estrondo (pt) m
Rhine Franconian: Dunner
Russian: ро́кот (ru) m (rókot)
Scottish Gaelic: tàirneanach m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: тутњава f, тутњавина f

Roman: tutnjava (sh) f, tutnjavina f
Slovene: grmenje n
Spanish: estruendo (es) m, fragor (es) m
Swedish: mullrande (sv) n, dån (sv) n
Ukrainian: гу́ркіт m (húrkit)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Arabic: ^{(please verify)} رَعْد (ar) m (raʕd)
Breton: ^{(please verify)} kurun (br) f, ^{(please verify)} taran (br) m
Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} tondro (eo)
Guaraní: ^{(please verify)} sunu
Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} gelegar (id), ^{(please verify)} suara petir , ^{(please verify)} suara halilintar
Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} tonitro
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} birûsk (ku) f
Rwanda-Rundi: ^{(please verify)} inkuba
Telugu: ^{(please verify)} ఉరుము (te) (urumu)
Thai: ^{(please verify)} สายฟ้า (th) (sǎai-fáa)
Tupinambá: ^{(please verify)} tupã sununga

Verb

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

(impersonal) To produce thunder; to sound, rattle, or roar, as a discharge of atmospheric electricity.
It thundered continuously.
(intransitive) To make a noise like thunder.
The train thundered along the tracks.
(ergative) To (make something) move very fast (with loud noise).
- 1983, “Forbidden Colours”, in David Sylvian (lyrics), Ryuichi Sakamoto (music), Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, performed by David Sylvian:
  Senseless years thunder by / Millions are willing to give their lives for you / Does nothing live on?
(intransitive, transitive) To say (something) with a loud, threatening voice.
"Get back to work at once!", he thundered.
To produce something with incredible power.
- 2011 January 19, Jonathan Stevenson, “Leeds 1 - 3 Arsenal”, in BBC‎^[1]:
  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.

Conjugation

Conjugation of *thunder*
	present tense	past tense
infinitive	(to) thunder

1st-person singular	thunder	thundered
2nd-person singular	thunder, thunderest^†	thundered, thunderedst^†
3rd-person singular	thunders, thundereth^†	thundered
plural	thunder	thundered

subjunctive	thunder	thundered

imperative	thunder	—

participles	thundering	thundered

^† Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

(to say something with a loud, threatening voice): thunderer
thundering herd problem

Translations

to make a noise like thunder

Arabic: رَعَدَ (ar) (raʕada)
Aramaic:
Classical Syriac: ܪܥܡ (rəʿem)
Armenian: որոտալ (hy) (orotal)
Atayal: mu’ bicyu
Breton: ^{(please verify)} ober kurun , ^{(please verify)} taranal, ^{(please verify)} taraniñ
Bulgarian: гърмя (bg) (gǎrmja)
Catalan: tronar (ca)
Cherokee: ᎠᏴᏓᏆᎶᎠ (ayvdaqualoa)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 行雷 (haang⁴ leoi⁴)

Hakka: 打雷公 (tá-lùi-kûng)

Hokkien: 霆雷公 (tân-lûi-kong)

Mandarin: 打雷 (zh) (dǎléi)
Czech: hřmít (cs), zahřmět (cs) pf
Dalmatian: tonur
Dutch: donderen (nl)
Esperanto: tondri
Finnish: jyristä (fi), jyrähdellä (fi), jyrähtää (fi), pauhata (fi)
French: tonner (fr)
Friulian: tonâ
Galician: toar (gl)
German: donnern (de)
Alemannic German: tschättere
Hebrew: רעם (he) (ra'am)
Hindi: राद (hi) (rād), गरजना (hi) (garajnā)
Icelandic: þrymja
Ido: tondrar (io)
Ingrian: jyrähtää, jyrissä
Italian: tuonare (it)
Japanese: (it thunders) 雷が鳴る (かみなりがなる, kaminari ga naru), (to make a noise like thunder) 轟音を立てる (gōon o tateru)
Kalmyk: күрҗңнх (kürjñnx)
Kituba: duma
Korean: 천둥이 울리다 (cheondung'i ullida)
Latin: tono
Luxembourgish: donneren
Manchu: ᠠᡴᠵᠠᠮᠪᡳ (akjambi)
Norwegian: tordne
Occitan: tronar (oc)
Polabian: gramăt impf
Polish: grzmieć (pl), zagrzmieć
Portuguese: trovoar (pt), trovejar (pt)
Romanian: tuna (ro)
Romansch: tunar, tuner
Russian: греме́ть (ru) impf (gremétʹ), грохота́ть (ru) impf (groxotátʹ), громыха́ть (ru) impf (gromyxátʹ)
Sanskrit: स्तनति (stanati)
Sardinian: tronai, tronare
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: гр̀мети impf

Roman: gr̀meti (sh) impf
Slovak: hrmieť impf, zahrmieť pf
Slovene: grmeti
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: grimaś impf

Upper Sorbian: hrimać
Spanish: tronar (es)
Sranan Tongo: dondru
Swedish: dundra (sv), dåna (sv), åska (sv)
Thai: สายฟ้าฟาด (săaifáa fâat)
Tibetan: འབྲུག་སྐད་རྒྱག ('brug skad rgyag)
Ukrainian: гримі́ти impf (hrymíty), гуркота́ти impf (hurkotáty), гуркоті́ти impf (hurkotíty)
Venetan: tonàre
Welsh: taranu (cy)
West Frisian: daverje

to talk with a loud, threatening voice

Breton: taranal, taraniñ
Bulgarian: говоря гръмогласно (govorja grǎmoglasno)
Czech: hřmít (cs), hromovat
Dutch: overdonderen (nl)
Finnish: jyristä (fi), pauhata (fi)
French: tonitruer (fr)
Japanese: 怒鳴る (ja) (どなる, donaru)
Korean: 고함치다 (gohamchida)
Polish: gromić
Portuguese: trovejar (pt)
Romanian: tuna (ro)

transitive: say something with a loud, threatening voice

Finnish: jyristä (fi)
French: tonitruer (fr)
Japanese: 怒鳴る (ja) (どなる, donaru)
Romanian: tuna (ro)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} tondri
German: ^{(please verify)} donnern (de)
Guaraní: ^{(please verify)} sunu
Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} gelegar (id)
Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} tonar
Latin: ^{(please verify)} tonare
Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} tordne
Thai: ^{(please verify)} ฟ้าผ่า (th) (fáapàa)
Tupinambá: ^{(please verify)} sunung

Middle English

Noun

thunder

Alternative form of thonder