Etymologically
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lightning

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈlaɪt.nɪŋ/; /ˈlaɪt.nɪŋ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is a specialized use of lightening, the verbal noun of Middle English lightnen, to make light (see lighten),[2][3][4][5] with the spelling differentiated;[4][6] Etymonline also allows an extended form of Old English lihting, from lēoht, light.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1280 in Barnhart,[2] 1377 in the OED;[7] Etymonline traces it to late Old English.[3]

Semantic evolution

Old English had other words for it, such as līget and ligetung.[3] The Old English word also meant dawn, and in Middle English the light of the sun or the radiance of Christ.[3] As an adjective, very fast, as in lightning speed, it is from 1640.[7] The lightning bug (firefly) is American from 1778, and the lightning rod from 1789–90.[2][3] Cheap raw whisky or gin was lightning in slang from 1781.[7][3] Lightning never strikes twice and like greased lightning are later phrases.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1280 – lightning.[2]
  • 1640 – very fast.[7]
  • 1778 – lightning bug.[2][3]
  • 1781 – raw spirits.[7]
  • 1789 – lightning rod.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A flash of bright light in the sky caused by an electrical discharge between clouds or between a cloud and the ground.

Adjective

  1. Very quick or sudden: a lightning raid.

Word family

  • ball lightning
  • bead lightning
  • chain lightning
  • heat lightning
  • lightning arrester
  • lightning bug
  • lightning rod
  • scarlet lightning

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins