THE FIRST WORD

fulminate

PRONUNCIATION:

(FUHL-muh-nayt, FOOL-, -mih-) 

MEANING:

noun: An explosive salt of fulminic acid.
verb tr., intr.: 1. To explode or to cause to explode. 2. To issue denunciations.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin fulminare (to strike with lightning), from fulmen (lightning), from fulgere (to shine). Ultimately from the Indo-European root bhel- (to shine or burn), which is also the source of blaze, blank, blond, bleach, blanket, flame, refulgent, and effulgent. Earliest documented use: 1500.

USAGE:

"She would fulminate honestly against anything she didn't like."
Robert Thirkell; Conflict; Bloomsbury; 2010.