thunder
/ˈθʌndɚ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.14 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Thunder is preceded by lightning."
- "Thunder cracked overhead."
- "With each clap of thunder echoing from one high building to another the noise was terrific."
- "Off in the distance, he heard the thunder of hoofbeats, signalling a stampede."
- "The thunders of the Vatican could no longer strike into the heart of princes."
- "The revenging gods / 'Gainst parricides did all their thunders bend."
Etymology
From Middle English thunder, thonder, thundre, thonre, thunnere, þunre, from Old English þunor (“thunder”), from Proto-West Germanic *þunr, from Proto-Germanic *þunraz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ten-, *(s)tenh₂- (“to thunder”). Compare astound, astonish, stun. Germanic cognates include West Frisian tonger, Dutch donder, German Donner, Old Norse Þórr (English Thor), Danish torden, Norwegian Nynorsk tore. Other cognates include Persian تندر (tondar), Latin tonō, detonō, Ancient Greek στένω (sténō), στενάζω (stenázō), στόνος (stónos), Στέντωρ (Sténtōr), Irish torann, Welsh taran, Gaulish Taranis. Doublet of donner, Thunor, and Thor.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈθʌndɚ/
- British English: /ˈθʌndə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
thunders (plural)
thunders (present, singular)
thundering (participle, present)
thundered (participle, past)
thundered (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
thundered (first person, past)
thunderest (archaic, present)
thundered (past, second person)
thunderedst (archaic, past)
thundereth (archaic, present)