Brontide

Definition: Low, distant rumbling like thunder, but rather believed to be of seismic origin.

Pronunciation: bron-TYDE

Origin:

Assumed mostly to be Greek; bront is Greek for “thunder”, and someone plugged an

-ide onto the end to denote a state of being.

Why this word?

I like it.

It sounds strong and hearty. Each time I think of it, the image of a wide, stretching farmland plain of yellow grasses and a dark, clouded daytime sky rumbling with the warning of a distant storm comes to my mind. “Brontide” sounds fanciful, almost like nonsense; like it could be a cousin to “Sim sala bim” and “Alakazam”, and other gobbledygook, jabbering phrases one would usually only find in the brief descriptions of the contents of a witch’s spellbook in a high fantasy novel.

How do you use brontide in a sentence?

“There was a fine tremor vibrating upwards through the table’s legs and across the span of its topwood, terminating in a mild yet noticeable clattering together of china and flatware. A far off, brontide-like noise and the threat of ruined crops echoed in the sky outside the cottage.”