thunderstorm

Etymology

It is a compound from English thunder + storm,^[2][3][4][5] also written with a hyphen.^[2] The first part is from Middle English thonder, from Old English þunor,^[2][3] and the second is from storm.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A storm with thunder and lightning: Etymonline dates the word to the 1560s.^[2] Merriam-Webster gives 1652 and Dictionary.com 1645–55,^[6][5] and the OED's first quotation is from Bishop Joseph Hall's Invisible World, written before 1656.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed the same: a storm with thunder and lightning, usually with heavy rain.^[3][7] Later dictionaries add that it is produced by rising air currents and electrically charged cumulonimbus clouds, and may bring hail.^[4][7] The milder thunder-shower is recorded from the 1690s.^[2] The simile like a dying duck in a thunderstorm describes someone looking forlorn.^[4]

Timeline

• 1560s – a storm accompanied by thunder and lightning.^[2] The OED's first quotation is from before 1656, and Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1652.^[3][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A storm with thunder and lightning, caused by strong rising air currents and usually bringing heavy rain or hail: The picnic was cut short by a sudden thunderstorm.^[7][6][3]

Related words

• thunder
• storm

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins