thunder

See also: thundër

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

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 تندر(tondar), Latin tonō, detonō, Ancient Greek στένω (sténō), στενάζω (stenázō), στόνος (stónos), Στέντωρ (Sténtōr), Irish torann, Welsh taran, Gaulish Taranis. Doublet of donner.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

 
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thunder (countable and uncountable, plural thunders)

  1. The loud rumbling, cracking, or crashing sound caused by expansion of rapidly heated air around a lightning bolt.
    Thunder is preceded by lightning.
  2. A deep, rumbling noise resembling thunder.
    Off in the distance, he heard the thunder of hoofbeats, signalling a stampede.
  3. 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.
  4. (obsolete) The discharge of electricity; a thunderbolt.
  5. (figuratively) The spotlight.
    Shortly after I announced my pregnancy, he stole my thunder with his news of landing his dream job.

Usage notesEdit

  • 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 termsEdit

DescendantsEdit

  • Tagalog: tanda
  • Alemannic German: Thönder

TranslationsEdit

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

See alsoEdit

VerbEdit

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

  1. (impersonal) To produce thunder; to sound, rattle, or roar, as a discharge of atmospheric electricity.
    It thundered continuously.
  2. (intransitive) To make a noise like thunder.
    The train thundered along the tracks.
  3. (ergative) To (make something) move very fast (with loud noise).
  4. (intransitive, transitive) To say (something) with a loud, threatening voice.
    "Get back to work at once!", he thundered.
  5. 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.

ConjugationEdit

Derived termsEdit

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

TranslationsEdit

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

See alsoEdit

Middle EnglishEdit

NounEdit

thunder

  1. Alternative form of thonder