lightning English · revision 6436

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1280}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈlaɪt.nɪŋ/; /ˈlaɪt.nɪŋ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a specialized use of [[lightening]], the verbal noun of Middle English lightnen, to make light (see [[lighten]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) with the spelling differentiated;^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) Etymonline also allows an extended form of Old English lihting, from lēoht, light.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ About 1280 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) 1377 in the OED;^(OED 1989) Etymonline traces it to late Old English.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old English had other words for it, such as līget and ligetung.^(Etymonline) The Old English word also meant dawn, and in Middle English the light of the sun or the radiance of Christ.^(Etymonline) As an adjective, very fast, as in ''lightning speed'', it is from 1640.^(OED 1989) The ''lightning bug'' (firefly) is American from 1778, and the ''lightning rod'' from 1789–90.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Cheap raw whisky or gin was ''lightning'' in slang from 1781.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) ''Lightning never strikes twice'' and ''like greased lightning'' are later phrases.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1280 – lightning.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1640 – very fast.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1778 – lightning bug.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1781 – raw spirits.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1789 – lightning rod.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A flash of bright light in the sky caused by an electrical discharge between clouds or between a cloud and the ground.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Very quick or sudden: ''a lightning raid''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ball lightning]]

+ * [[bead lightning]]

+ * [[chain lightning]]

+ * [[heat lightning]]

+ * [[lightning arrester]]

+ * [[lightning bug]]

+ * [[lightning rod]]

+ * [[scarlet lightning]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[light]]

+ * [[lighten]]

+ * [[thunder]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}