Fulmine
NOUN [masculine]
Meaning and English translation 🔖
Lightning
🇬🇧 A violent electrical discharge that occurs between clouds or between a cloud and the ground, accompanied by light and thunder.
🇮🇹 Violenta scarica elettrica che avviene tra nubi o tra una nube e la terra, accompagnata da luce e tuono.
| Masculine ♂️ | Feminine ♀️ | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | il - un fulmine | - |
| Plural | i - dei fulmini | - |
Example sentences 💬
Durante il temporale, un fulmine ha colpito l'albero in giardino.
During the storm, lightning struck the tree in the garden.
I fulmini illuminavano il cielo notturno durante il temporale.
The lightning illuminated the night sky during the storm.
This article is brought to you by Giulia School, where you can learn Italian the natural way—with real conversations and passionate teachers guiding you every step of the journey. It’s the closest thing to immersion you can get without living in Italy. Click here to learn more.
Idioms with fulmine 🇮🇹
Essere un fulmine
→ To be lightning-fast, to be very quick
La nuova collega è un fulmine, ha già completato tutto il lavoro arretrato.
The new colleague is lightning-fast, she has already completed all the backlog.
Come un fulmine
→ Like lightning, very quickly
Appena ha sentito la notizia, è corso a casa come un fulmine.
As soon as he heard the news, he ran home like lightning.
Colpo di fulmine
→ Love at first sight
Tra me e mia moglie è stato un colpo di fulmine sin dalla prima volta.
It was love at first sight between me and my wife.
Fulmine a ciel sereno
→ Bolt from the blue, unexpected event
La sua decisione di licenziarsi è stata un fulmine a ciel sereno.
His decision to quit was a bolt from the blue.
Essere un fulmine di guerra
→ One sharp cookie / A quick thinker (often used ironically)
Quel ragazzo è un fulmine di guerra, impara tutto in un attimo!
That guy is one sharp cookie; he learns everything in no time!
Lanciare fulmini con lo sguardo
→ To give someone a withering look
La professoressa lanciava fulmini con lo sguardo agli studenti che parlavano durante la lezione.
The teacher was giving withering looks to the students who were talking during the lesson.
Nota: puoi usare anche il verbo derivato “Fulminare”
→ fulminare con lo sguardo
Where does the word fulmine come from? 🔎
Fulmine comes from the Latin fulmen, fulminis, meaning "bolt, flash". It is connected to the verb fulgere, "to shine, to glow", from which the Italian word “fulgido” (bright, radiant) also derives.
