Lightenings

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A sudden vivid flash or illumination that occurs during a storm
2. a moment of insight or understanding that brings clarity
3. a metaphorical expression for an enhancement of mood or spirit that reduces heaviness

Etymology: "Lightenings" is the plural of "lightening", a word that is a doublet of "lightning": two forms that developed from the same ancestor but took different paths into English. Both descend from the Old English verb "lēoht" and its relatives, which meant "light" or "to shine," and the noun "lightening" was the older form of the flash that later came to be spelled "lightning." The plural "lightenings" is therefore the form of that same older noun, used for separate bursts of light rather than the storm as a whole. Note that "lightening" is also an everyday verb meaning "making lighter," so its noun sense for a storm's flash is easy to confuse with that unrelated usage. The two spellings have simply diverged in meaning, with "lightning" now covering the phenomenon itself.

Synonyms: illuminations, flashes, lightings, radiances, beams