Etymologically
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fulmen

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈfʊɫ.mɛn][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈful.men][1]

Forms

fulmen n (genitive fulminis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from ⟨*fulg-men⟩, formed from Latin fulgeō (“to flash, lighten”) + -men, with ⟨*-lgm-⟩ simplified to ⟨-lm-⟩.[2][1][3] De Vaan calls its derivation from the verb certain, and traces fulgō to Proto-Italic *folg-e/o- (“to shine”) and Proto-Indo-European *bʰlg-e/o- (“to shine”), cognate with Ancient Greek φλέγω (phlégō, “to burn”) and Ancient Greek φλόξ (phlóx, “flame”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius,[4] who writes quae quondam fulmine īcit Iuppiter, “which Jupiter once struck with his thunderbolt”.[2] A law ascribed to the kings has homō sī fulmine occīsus est, “if a man has been killed by lightning”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Fulmen is lightning that strikes, “a thunderbolt”, as opposed to fulgur, a mere flash.[2][3][1] It was an omen (Cicero: a tribune announced lightning on the left) and the weapon of Jupiter; it is also an image of a thunderbolt, and in poetry a dazzling flash.[2] Figuratively it is a deadly weapon or threat, a great general, as Lucretius' Scīpiadās, bellī fulmen, the thunderbolts of an orator's speech (Cicero on Demosthenes), and a crushing blow of fortune.[2][3]

Church Latin glosses it “lightning, thunderbolt”;[5] medieval Latin speaks of the fulmen anathematis, the thunderbolt of excommunication.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius: fulmine īcit Iuppiter.[2][7]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius: fulmine clārō.[2][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius: Scīpiadās, bellī fulmen.[2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: fulmina fortūnae.[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A thunderbolt, lightning that strikes.[2][3][1][5]
  2. The weapon of Jupiter; an image of a thunderbolt.[2]
  3. A dazzling flash.[2]
  4. A deadly force; a great warrior; a forceful utterance.[2]
  5. A crushing blow, sudden disaster.[2]
  6. (Medieval Latin) The thunderbolt of anathema.[6]

Word family

  • fulmināris
  • fulmineus
  • fulminō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de