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 , Thunor , and Thor .
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.
( Can we verify (+ ) this sense?) ( figuratively ) The spotlight .
Shortly after I announced my pregnancy, he stole my thunder with his news of landing his dream job.
( 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.
roll , clap , peal are some of the words used to count thunder e.g. A series of rolls/claps/peals of thunder were heard
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 ( 6 le)
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 ( puŕgińe )
Esperanto: tondro (eo)
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
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
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 )
Translations to be checked
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).
( 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.
to make a noise like thunder
Arabic: رَعَدَ (ar) ( raʕada )
Aramaic:
Classical Syriac: ܪܥܡ ( rəʿem )
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
transitive: say something with a loud, threatening voice
Translations to be checked
thunder
Alternative form of thonder