Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Thunder

The area in which German was spoken around AD 962 (the ascension of Otto the Great, taken as the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire). Based on: Geschichte der Deutschen Sprache, Volk und Wissen, Volksgener Verlag, Berlin 1983.Image via WikipediaO.E. þunor, from P.Gmc. *thunraz (cf. O.N. þorr, O.Fris. thuner, M.Du. donre, Du. donder, O.H.G. donar, Ger. Donner "thunder"), from PIE *(s)tene- "to resound, thunder" (cf. Skt. tanayitnuh "thundering," Pers. tundar "thunder," L. tonare "to thunder"). Swed. tordön is lit. "Thor's din." The intrusive -d- is also found in Du. and Icelandic versions of the word. The verb is O.E. þunrian; fig. sense of "to speak loudly, threateningly, bombastically" is recorded from c.1340. Thunderbolt is from c.1440; thunderclap is from c.1386; thunderstruck is from 1613, originally fig.; the lit. sense always has been rare. Thunderhead "high-piled cloud" is recorded from 1861.

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