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fulmino

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word fulmino

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
70–19 BC, Virgil
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*bʰlg-e/o-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin fulgeo
Latin effulgeo
Latin fulmen
Latin fulmino
Latin fulmineus
Latin praefulgeo
Latin refulgeo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈfʊɫ.mɪ.noː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈful.mi.no][1]

Forms

fulminō (present infinitive fulmināre, perfect active fulmināvī, supine fulminātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin fulmen (“lightning, thunderbolt”) + -ō.[2][3][1] De Vaan derives fulmen from an earlier ⟨*fulgmen⟩, made from fulgō (“to flash”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *folg-e/o- (“to shine”) and Proto-Indo-European *bʰlg-e/o- (“to shine”), the root of Ancient Greek φλέγω (phlégō, “to burn”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Virgil's Georgics, of lightning from the quarter of the fierce north wind.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is used impersonally, fulminat, "lightning strikes", and personally of Jupiter or the sky hurling lightning;[2][5] Lewis & Short call it poetic and post-Augustan, beside classical fulgeō.[5] Seneca contrasts the force needed for lightning flashes with that needed for a thunderbolt.[5] It also means to flash fiercely, as a woman's eyes in Propertius.[2] Figuratively it means to strike like lightning: Virgil has Caesar thundering in war by the Euphrates.[2] In the passive it means to be struck by lightning, as in Pliny the Elder,[2] and figuratively to be thunderstruck.[2]

Timeline

  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of lightning and of Caesar thundering in war.[2]
  • 57/46–12 BC – Propertius of flashing eyes.[2]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca on lightning and thunderbolts.[5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of people struck by lightning.[2]
  • early 15th century – fulminate appears in English for a thundering denunciation.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (impersonal) Lightning strikes;[2][5][1] (of Jupiter, the sky) to hurl lightning.[2][5][1]
  2. To flash fiercely.[2]
  3. (figurative) To strike like lightning, spread sudden disaster.[2]
  4. (passive) To be struck by lightning;[2] (figurative) to be thunderstruck.[2]

Word family

  • diffulminō
  • fulminātiō
  • fulminātor

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 p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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 c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Fulmino.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/fulmino. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·