# lightning
## English

Wikiversity

### Etymology

From light(e)n +‎ -ing. Doublet of lightening.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈlaɪt.nɪŋ/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈlaɪt.nɪŋ/, [ˈlʌɪ̯ʔ.nɪŋ], [ˈlɐɪ̯ʔ.nɪŋ]
** Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -aɪtnɪŋ

### Noun

lightning (usually uncountable, plural lightnings)
* A flash of light produced by short-duration, high-voltage discharge of electricity within a cloud, between clouds, or between a cloud and the earth.
    Although we did not see the lightning, we did hear the thunder.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 38:35:Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?
** 1901, E. L. Morris, The Child's Eden, page 16:It was the thought of hot July and August days, when the clouds piled up like woolly mountains, and lightnings streaked the sky.
** 2008, Kathy Clark, Stand By Your Man, page 280:Manny drove a few miles per hour under the speed limit, entranced by the awesome display of lightning streaking out of the clouds toward earth.
** 2021 October 13, Genshin Impact, v2.2, miHoYo, iOS, Android, Windows, PS4, level/area: The Sun-Wheel and Mt. Kanna:"Ruu": The adults in the village all said that children like me could calm the lightning and turn the storms into timely rain.
* A discharge of this kind.
    The lightning was hot enough to melt the sand.
    That tree was hit by lightning.
** c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene ii:Auster and Aquilon with winged Steeds All ſweating, tilt about the watery heauens, With ſhiuering ſpeares enforcing thunderclaps, And from their ſhields ſtrike flames of lightening
** 1881, Daniel Pierce Thompson, The Green Mountain Boys, page 281:The rain at length ceased; and the lightnings, as they played along the black parapet of clouds, that lay piled in the east, shone with less dazzling fierceness, […]
* (figuratively) Anything that moves very fast.
** 1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter V, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLC:Nobs, though, was lightning by comparison with the slow thinking beast and dodged his opponent's thrust with ease. Then he raced to the rear of the tremendous thing and seized it by the tail.
* (archaic, slang) Gin.
** 2017, Jake Arnott, The Fatal Tree:I took some gin but it did little to calm my mood. […] 'Come now, Bess,' she entreated, and poured another glass of lightning. 'Tell your old mother everything.' I took a gulp of the spirit, then babbled all, showing her the loot now in my possession.
* Obsolete form of lightening.

#### Usage notes

* bolt, flash, strike are some of the words used to count lightning.

#### Coordinate terms

* thunder (noise), thunderbolt (instance), fulgural (adjective)

#### Derived terms

* ball lightning
* bead lightning
* CG lightning
* chain lightning
* Chicago lightning
* dry lightning
* forked lightning
* fork lightning
* fossilized lightning
* globe lightning
* globular lightning
* greased lightning
* heat lightning
* IC lightning
* Jersey lightning
* Jewish lightning
* lightning arrester
* lightning bird
* lightning bolt
* lightning bruiser
* lightning bug
* lightning carrier
* lightning chess
* lightning conductor
* lightning crotch
* lightning detector
* lightning discharger
* lightning does not strike twice in the same place
* lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place
* lightning fast
* lightning in a bottle
* lightning mapper
* lightning never strikes twice
* lightning never strikes twice in the same place
* lightning protection system
* lightning-quick
* lightning rod
* lightning round
* lightning sketch
* lightning speed
* lightning storm
* lightning strike
* lightning talk
* lightning war
* like lightning
* quick as lightning
* ride the lightning
* scarlet lightning
* sheet lightning
* spider lightning
* thunder and lightning
* upward lightning
* volcanic lightning
* white lightning

#### Translations

'Are'are: 'aiwanawana
Abkhaz: а-фы (a-fə)
Acehnese: kilat
Adyghe: пкӏыкӏэ (pkʼəkʼɛ), пчыкӏэ (pčəkʼɛ)
Afrikaans: weerligstraal
Aguaruna: čahip
Ainu: イメル (imeru)
Akkadian: 𒉏𒄈 (birqu)
Aklanon: kidlat
Albanian: rrufe (sq), vetëtim
Amharic: መብረቅ (mäbräḳ)
Arabic: بَرْق (ar) m (barq)
Egyptian Arabic: برق m (barʔ)
Hijazi Arabic: بَرْق m (barg)
South Levantine Arabic: برق m (barʔ)
Aramaic:
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܒܸܪܩܵܐ m (birqa)
Classical Syriac: ܒܪܩܐ m (barqā)
Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: בַּרְקָא m (barqā)
Archi: парыла (parəla)
Armenian: կայծակ (hy) (kaycak), շանթ (hy) (šantʻ)
Old Armenian: կայծակն (kaycakn)
Aromanian: sfulgu n, sfuldzir n
Asturian: rellámpagu (ast) m
Avar: пири (piri)
Aymara: illapa
Azerbaijani: şimşək (az), ildırım (az)
Baluchi: بیر (bír), گروک (girok, grok)
Bashkir: йәшен (yəşen)
Basque: tximistargi
Bau Bidayuh: kuning
Belarusian: мала́нка f (malánka), бліскаві́ца f (bliskavíca), блі́скаўка (be) f (blískaŭka) (regional)
Bengali: বাজ (bn) (baj), বজ্র (bn) (bojro)
Bikol Central: kikilat (bcl), linti
Brunei Malay: kilat
Bulgarian: светка́вица (bg) f (svetkávica), мъ́лния (bg) f (mǎ́lnija)
Burmese: လျှပ် (my) (hlyap)
Buryat: сакилгаан (sakilgaan)
Caddo: kǝhaudíːn-unǝ
Catalan: llampec (ca) m, llamp (ca) m
Cebuano: kilat
Ch'orti': hihƥ
Chamicuro: yaple'ti
Chechen: стелахаьштиг (stelaxäštig)
Cherokee: ᎠᎾᎦᎵᏍᎩ (anagalisgi)
Cheyenne: évóˀhoˀȧseˀha
Chichewa: mphezi
Chinese:
Cantonese: 閃電 / 闪电 (sim$^2$ din$^6$)
Dungan: дянгуон (di͡anguon)
Hokkien: 閃電 / 闪电 (zh-min-nan) (siám-tiān), 爍爁 / 烁𬊶 (zh-min-nan) (sih-nah)
Mandarin: 閃電 / 闪电 (zh) (shǎndiàn), 電光 / 电光 (zh) (diànguāng)
Chukchi: йынӄэргын (jynqėrgyn), йынӄэргат (jynqėrgat)
Chuvash: ҫиҫĕм (śiśĕm)
Coptic: ⲉⲃⲣⲏϭⲉ (ebrēce) (Sahidic)
Corsican: saetta f
Czech: blesk (cs) m
Dalmatian: limp m
Danish: lyn (da) n, lynglimt n
Dargwa: лямцӏ (ləmc̣)
Dutch: bliksem (nl) m, weerlicht (nl) n, bliksemschicht (nl) m, bliksemflits (nl) m
Dzongkha: གློག་ (glog)
Eastern Arrernte: alharrkentye
Egyptian: (sšd m)
Erzya: ёндол (jondol)
Esperanto: fulmo (eo)
Estonian: välk
Evenki: агды (agdi)
Extremaduran: rayu m
Farefare: sa-yãka, yãka
Faroese: snarljós n
Finnish: salama (fi), salamointi (fi)
French: éclair (fr) m, éloise (fr) f (Louisiana)
Friulian: saete, lamp, sfulmin, tarlup
Galician: lóstrego (gl) m, raio (gl) m
Ge'ez: መብረቅ (mäbräḳ)
Georgian: ელვა (elva)
German: Blitz (de) m
Gothic: 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌷𐌼𐌿𐌽𐌹 f (lauhmuni)
Greek: αστραπή (el) f (astrapí)
Ancient: ἀστραπή f (astrapḗ), ἀστεροπή f (asteropḗ)
Guaraní: aratiri
Gujarati: વીજ f (vīj), વિદ્યુત f (vidyut), તડિત f (taḍit)
Hawaiian: uila
Hebrew: בָּרָק (he) m (barák)
Higaonon: kilat
Hindi: तड़ित (hi) ? (taṛit), विद्युत (hi) f (vidyut), बिजली (hi) f (bijlī)
Hungarian: villám (hu)
Ibanag: kilat
Icelandic: elding (is) f
Ido: fulmino (io)
Ilocano: kimat
Indonesian: kilat (id), geledek (id), petir (id), halilintar (id)
Ingrian: valkia, tuli
Interlingua: fulmine, fulgure
Inuktitut: ᑲᓪᓕᑕᖅ (iu) (kallitaq)
Iranun: kilat
Irish: tintreach (ga) f
Istriot: foûlmini m pl
Italian: fulmine (it) m, folgore (it) m, saetta (it) f, lampo (it) m
Japanese: 稲妻 (ja) (いなずま, inazuma), 雷光 (ja) (らいこう, raikō), 雷 (ja) (かみなり, kaminari), 稲光 (ja) (いなびかり, inabikari)
Javanese: kilat (jv), geledek
Kala Lagaw Ya: pœnipan
Kalasha: indóčik
Kanakanabu: 'aparatʉ
Kannada: ಮಿಂಚು (kn) (miñcu)
Kansa: galéleze
Kapampangan: kildap
Karelian: tulenisku
Kaurna: karntu
Kazakh: нажағай (najağai), найзағай (naizağai), жасыл (kk) (jasyl)
Khmer: ផ្លេកបន្ទោរ (km) (phleek bɑntou), រន្ទះ (km) (rŭəntĕəh), វិជ្ជុ (km) (vɨccuʼ)
Kikuyu: rũheni class 11
Klallam: ƛ̕əmƛ̕əmcínəŋ
Korean: 번개 (ko) (beon'gae), (stroke) 벼락 (ko) (byeorak)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: بروسکە (bruske), تریشقە (trîşqe)
Northern Kurdish: birûsk (ku)
Kusaal: sa-ian'asʋg
Kyrgyz: чагылган (ky) (cagılgan)
Lao: ຟ້າແມບ (lo) (fā mǣp), ຟ້າເຫລື້ອມ (fā lư̄am), ວິທະຍຸ (wi tha nyu), ວິຊຽນ (wi sīan)
Latgalian: zibsnis m
Latin: fulgur n, fulmen n
Latvian: zibens (lv) m
Lezgi: цӏайлапан (c̣ajlapan)
Limburgish: blitsj m
Lingala: nkáké class 9/10
Lisu: ꓟꓬꓱꓼ ꓐꓬꓱꓼ (mjø̱̀ bjø̱̀), ꓟꓶꓽ ꓐꓬꓱꓼ (mɯ̀ bjø̱̀), ꓟꓰꓼ ꓜꓲꓼ (mè̱ dzɨ̱̀)
Lithuanian: žaibas m
Lokono: belebeliru
Lombard: saètta f, saetta (lmo) f, sumelech m
Luxembourgish: Blëtz m
Macedonian: молња (mk) f (molnja), молскавица f (molskavica), секавица f (sekavica)
Maguindanao: kilat
Malagasy: fotaka (mg), helatra (mg)
Malay: kilat (ms)
Malayalam: മിന്നല് (minnal), മിന്നൽ (ml) (minnal), ഇടിവെട്ട് (ml) (iṭiveṭṭŭ)
Maltese: sajjetta f, beraq m
Manchu: ᡨ᠋ᠠᠯᡴᡳᠶᠠᠨ (talkiyan)
Manx: çhenney m
Maore Comorian: peni class 9/10
Maori: uira
Maranao: kilat
Middle English: leyt
Mingrelian: ტყვაცი (ṭq̇vaci)
Mohawk: tewennineˀkarahwanyonˀs
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: аянга (mn) (ajanga), цахилгаан (mn) (caxilgaan)
Montana Salish: ʔesuˀwétʃiʔ
Moore: sa-yãgre
Nahuatl: tlapetlānilli, tlapetlantli
Navajo: atsiniltłʼish
Nepali: चट्याङ (caṭyāṅ)
Norman: (Jersey) êpart m, (Normandy) écllai m, (Guernsey) écllaer m, (Sark) epar m
Norwegian: lyn (no), lynglimt, blink
Bokmål: lyn (no) n, lynglimt n
Nynorsk: lyn n, lynblenk m, lynblink m, lyneld m, lynglimt n, lynlys n, lynljos n, elding m
Nyunga: babanginy, babaginy, babanginy
O'odham: wepgi꞉
Occitan: ulhauç (oc) m, liuç (oc) m, lamp (oc) m
Odia: ବିଜୁଳି (or) (bijuḷi)
Ojibwe: wazimog, waasamowin, inaabiwin
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: блискъ m (bliskŭ), мльниꙗ f (mlĭnija)
Old English: līeġetu f
Old High German: blic
Old Javanese: kilat
Old Norse: leiptr
Old Saxon: bliksmo
Oromo: balaqqeessa
Ossetian: арвырттывд (arvyrttyvd)
Ottoman Turkish: شمشك (şimşek)
Pali: vijju, asani
Panamint: kongoyoppo'e, kongoyoppo'enah, kongoyopoppa'en, kuttapito'eh
Pashto: بجلي f (bǝǰlí), برېښنا (ps) f (brex̌nã), برېښ (ps) m (brex̌)
Persian: صاعقه (fa) (sâ'eqe), برق (fa) (barq), آذرخش (fa) (âzaraxš), ابرنجک (fa) (abranjak), گرز (fa) (gorz) (archaic)
Pitjantjatjara: wanangaṟa, wiinpa
Polish: błyskawica (pl) f, piorun (pl) m, grom (pl) m (archaic)
Portuguese: relâmpago (pt) m
Punjabi: ਬਿਜਲੀ f (bijlī), ਰੋਹਣੀ f (rohṇī)
Quechua: illapa
Romanian: fulger (ro) n, trăsnet (ro) n
Romansch: chametg m, cametg m, tgametg m, sajetta f
Russian: мо́лния (ru) f (mólnija)
Samogitian: žaibs m
Sanskrit: वज्र (sa) m or n (vajra), शम्पा (sa) f (śampā), विद्युत् (sa) f (vidyut), अशनि (sa) f (aśani)
Sardinian: lampu, ragiu
Saterland Frisian: Lai m, Loai m
Scottish Gaelic: dealanach m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: муња f, блесак m, блијесак m
Roman: munja (sh) f, blesak m, blijesak (sh) m
Seri: æɑmxʷ, iʃɑ́ːʔoχ inóɸtx
Shona: mheni, kupenya
Sicilian: fùrmini m, lampu (scn) m
Sinhalese: අකුණු (si) ? (akuṇu)
Slovak: blesk m, hrom (sk) m
Slovene: strela (sl) m
Somali: biriq (so) f, danab (so), hillaac (so)
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: błysk
Upper Sorbian: błysk m
Southern Altai: јалкын (ǰalkïn), јаажын (ǰaažïn)
Spanish: relámpago (es) m, rayo (es) m
Swahili: umeme (sw)
Swedish: blixt (sv) c, ljungeld (sv) c (poetic)
Tagalog: kidlat (tl)
Tajik: барқ (tg) (barq), соиқа (tg) (soyiqa)
Talysh: avəvü
Tamil: மின்னல் (ta) (miṉṉal)
Taos: upę́lena, phàcʼíene
Tarifit: ajjaj m, assam m
Tatar: яшен (tt) (yaşen)
Tausug: kilat
Tày: fạ mjẹp
Telugu: మెరుపు (te) (merupu)
Tetum: mamera, rai-lakan
Thai: ฟ้าแลบ (th) (fáa-lɛ̂ɛp), สายฟ้า (th) (sǎai-fáa), วิชชุ (wít-chú), วิเชียร (th) (wí-chiian), อสนีบาต (th) (à-sà-nii-bàat)
Tibetan: གློག (glog)
Tigre: በርቅ (bärḳ)
Tigrinya: በርቂ (bärḳi)
Tocharian A: wasir
Tocharian B: wasir
Tupinambá: tupã beraba
Turkish: yıldırım (tr), şimşek (tr)
Turkmen: ýyldyrym
Tuvan: кызаңнааш (kızañnaaş), чаңнык (çañnık)
Udi: ц̓аъкъ (c̓a̱q̇) (Nij), чӏаъкъ (č̣a̱q̇) (Vartashen)
Ugaritic: 𐎁𐎗𐎖 (brq)
Ukrainian: бли́скавка (uk) f (blýskavka), перу́н m (perún)
Urdu: تڑیت ? (taṛit)
Uyghur: بەرق (berq), چېقىن (chëqin), چاقماق (ug) (chaqmaq)
Uzbek: chaqmoq (uz), yashin (uz)
Venetan: s-ciantixo (vec) m, sciantis m
Vietnamese: sét (vi), chớp (vi)
Volapük: leklär (vo), (older term) lelit
Walloon: aloumire (wa) f, aloumoere (wa) f
Waray-Waray: kidlat, linti
Warlpiri: wirnpa
Welsh: mellt f, lluched f
West Frisian: bliksem
White Hmong: xob laim
Woiwurrung: djirringu, derreng-o
Yakut: чаҕылҕан (cağılğan)
Yámana: tumutušu
Yiddish: בליץ m (blits)
Zazaki: vırsık (diq) m
Zhuang: byajyap, byaj
ǃXóõ: ʻmála, ǁnáa :

### Adjective

lightning (not comparable)
* Extremely fast or sudden; moving (as if) at the speed of lightning.
** 2018, Nader Uskowi, Temperature Rising, page 69:The insurgents then began their lightning advance along the Euphrates in the Sunni heartland toward Baghdad.

#### Translations
### Verb

lightning (third-person singular simple present lightnings, present participle lightninging, simple past and past participle lightninged)
* (impersonal, childish or nonstandard, intransitive) To produce lightning.
** 1916, Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Understood Betsy:Or if it thundered and lightninged, Aunt Frances always dropped everything she might be doing and held Elizabeth Ann tightly in her arms until it was all over.
** 1968, Dan Greenburg, Chewsday: a sex novel:The next day, though it is not only raining but thundering and lightninging as well, antiquing is seen by three-fourths of those present as a lesser evil than free play.
** 1987, Tricia Springstubb, Eunice Gottlieb and the unwhitewashed truth about life:"Hey!" yelled Reggie, pulling her back. "Get in here! It's lightninging. I don't want a charcoal-broiled friend!"
** 1988, Carlo Collodi, Roberto Innocenti, The adventures of Pinocchio:I don't know, Father, but believe me, it has been a horrible night — one that I'll never forget. It thundered and lightninged, and I was very hungry.

#### Usage notes

* The standard, but rare, verb for "produce lightning" is lighten, used only in the impersonal form "it lightens", or as "it’s lightening".

#### Translations
### References

* ↑ “lightning”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.