shǎn diàn
foudre
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电光 (diàn guāng)
lightning flash
雷电 (léi diàn)
thunder and lightning
雷声 (léishēng)
thunder
阳光 (yángguāng)
sunshine
The Chinese word 闪电 (shǎndiàn) for "lightning" is a compound of two characters: 闪 (shǎn) and 电 (diàn). The character 闪 originally meant "to flash" or "to shine", and was often used to describe the quick and sudden appearance of light. The character 电, on the other hand, originally meant "thunder", and was used to describe the loud and rumbling sound that accompanies lightning. Over time, the two characters came to be combined to form the word 闪电, which specifically refers to the visual phenomenon of lightning.
