fulgurātiō

Fulgur, fulgetrum, and fulguratio, denote the shining of the lightning in the horizon, like ἀστραπή; fulgur, as momentary and single flashes; fulguratio, as continued and repeated; whereas fulmen means the lightning that strikes the earth, like κεραυνός. Liv. xl. 59. Fulguribus præstringentibus aciem oculorum, sed fulmina etiam sic undique micabant, ut petit viderentur corpora. Curt. viii. 4, 3. Ovid, Met. iii. 300. Cic. Divin. ii. 19. Plin. H. N. ii. 43. Si in nube erumpat ardens, fulmina; si longiore tractu nitatur fulgetra; his findi nubem, illis perrumpi. Sen. Q. N. i. 1. (iii. 318.)