LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · neuterthird declension

fulmen

fulmen n (genitive fulminis)
Classical[ˈfʊɫ.mɛn]Ecclesiastical[ˈful.men]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. neuterlightning that strikes or sets on fire; a thunderbolt
    ille precābātur, tonitrū dedit ōmina laevōThose [are the] things he was praying [for]; Jupiter gave omens with thunder on the left, and thunderbolts having been sent from the leftward sky. (The prayers of Romulus for divine favor toward Rome are acknowledged by Jupiter.)8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 4.833–834

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

ignis caelī, quem Iuppiter iacit; cum tonitrū cadit.
fulmen -inis n — in Mille Verba, Caelum et Tempestātēs
ignis quem Iuppiter ē caelō iacit
fulmen -inis (n) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 2

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Fulgur · Fulguratio · Fulmen

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.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativefulmenfulmina
genitivefulminisfulminum
dativefulminīfulminibus
accusativefulmenfulmina
ablativefulminefulminibus
vocativefulmenfulmina

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

fulmine ictus
struck by lightning.
fulmina micant
the lightning flashes.
fulmine tangi, ici
to be struck by lightning.
fulmen locum tetigit
the lightning has struck somewhere.

fulmen, ĭnis, n. contr. from fulgimen, v. fulgeo,
I. lightning that strikes or sets on fire, a thunderbolt (opp. fulgur, lightning).
I. Lit.: placet Stoicis, eos anhelitus terrae cum se in nubem induerint ejusque tenuissimam quamque partem coeperint dividere atque dirumpere, tum et fulgores et tonitrua exsistere: si autem nubium conflictu ardor expressus se emiserit, id esse fulmen, Cic. Div. 2, 19, 44; cf. Sen. Q. N. 2, 16: non enim te puto esse eum, qui Jovi fulmen fabricatos esse Cyclopas in Aetna putes, Cic. Div. 2, 19, 43: inter fulmina et tonitrua, id. Phil. 5, 6, 15; cf. under II.: Phaëthon ictu fulminis deflagravit, id. Off. 3, 25, 94; cf.: Romulus lactens fulmine ictus, id. ib. 2, 21, 47 (for which more usually: e caelo ictus, Cic. Div. 1, 10, 16): fulmine tactus, Ov. Tr. 2, 144: fulminis ictu concidere, id. ib. 2, 20, 45: fulmine percussus, id. N. D. 3, 22, 57; cf. id. ib. 3, 35, 84: fulmina emittere ... fulmen jacere, id. ib. 2, 19, 44 sq.: fulminis ictus evadere, Juv. 12, 17: fulmine justo ruere, id. 8, 92: ideo plurima aestate fiunt fulmina, qua plurimum calidi est, Sen. Q. N. 2, 57, 2: validum, Lucr. 6, 228: igniferum, id. 6, 379: caducum, Hor. C. 3, 4, 44: qualem ministrum fulminis alitem, etc., id. ib. 4, 4, 1: quem (Periclem) fulminibus et caelesti fragori comparant comici, Quint. 12, 10, 24; cf. fulgeo, I. B.: ipse Pater corusca fulmina molitur dextra, Verg. G. 1, 330: fulmen erat, Genitor quae plurima caelo deicit, id. A. 8, 427: fulmina pauper creditur atque deos, Juv. 3, 145.—Respecting the nature of lightnings, and their religious interpretation among the Etruscans and Romans, cf. Sen. Q. N. 2, 12 sq.; Plin. 2, 51, 52, § 137; Serv. Verg. A. 1, 43; 230.—
II. Trop., a thunderbolt, i. q. destructive power, crushing calamity: non dubitaverim me gravissimis tempestatibus ac paene fulminibus ipsis obvium ferre conservandorum civium causa, Cic. Rep. 1, 4 (so we should read, and not fluminibus; cf. the passage quoted above from Cic. Div. 2, 19, 43; besides, if the figure were that of waves, it would be expressed not by fluminibus, but by fluctibus; v. fluctus, II. B.); cf.: fulmina fortunae contemnere, id. Tusc. 2, 27, 66: juro per mea mala, has me in illo (puero) vidisse virtutes ingenii, ut prorsus posset hinc esse tanti fulminis (i. e. mortis pueri) metus, quod observatum fere est, celerius occidere festinatam maturitatem, Quint. 6 praef. § 10; cf. Liv. 45, 41, 1: quam fulmine justo Et Capito et Numitor ruerint, damnante senatu, Juv. 8, 92; cf. Liv. 6, 39, 7.—Of oratory: ain' tandem? insanire tibi videris (Paetus), quod imitere verborum meorum, ut scribis, fulmina? etc., Cic. Fam. 9, 21, 1: (stilus) nec acumine posteriorum nec fulmine utens superiorum (al. flumine), id. Or. 6, 21.—Poet.: fulmen habent acres in aduncis dentibus apri, i. e. destructive power, Ov. M. 10, 550; cf. id. ib. 1, 305: (aper) Erectus setis et aduncae fulmine malae, Stat. Th. 2, 470; see fulmineus, II.: tune illum (Hannibalem), cum frons propior lumenque corusco Igne micat, tune illa viri, quae vertice fundit, Fulmina pertuleris, fiery flashings (of the eye), Sil. 11, 342.—Applied to the Scipios, as heroes and conquerors of the Carthaginians: Scipiades, belli fulmen, Carthaginis horror, Lucr. 3, 1034; imitated: duo fulmina belli Scipiadae, Verg. A. 6, 843: ubi nunc sunt fulmina gentis Scipiadae? Sil. 7, 106: duo fulmina nostri imperii, Cn. et P. Scipiones, these two thunderbolts of our empire, Cic. Balb. 15, 34.—Prov.: Fulmen est, ubi cum potestate habitat iracundia, Pub. Syr. 184 Rib.

Origins

From fulgō/fulgeō (“flash, glare, lighten”) + -men (noun-forming suffix), with simplification of *-lgm- to -lm-.

Descendants
  • Italianfulmine
  • Portuguesefúlmen
  • Friulianfulmin
  • Istriotfoûlmini
  • Lombardfulmen
  • Lombardfulmin
  • Piedmontesefùlmin
  • Sicilianfùrmini
  • Esperantofulmo

Quick answers

What does fulmen mean in Latin?
fulmen, a noun, means “lightning that strikes or sets on fire; a thunderbolt”.
What is the genitive of fulmen?
The genitive singular is fulminis. fulmen is neuter, third declension.
How do you pronounce fulmen?
In classical Latin, [ˈfʊɫ.mɛn]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈful.men].