brutum fulmen
brutum fulmen · bruta fulmina
A judgement without effectA judgement without effect.
Meaning
2 sensesA judgement without effect.
(archaic)An empty threat.
Origin
From Latin brutum (“stupid”) + fulmen (“lightning”), derived from a 1680 pamphlet by ThomaFrom Latin brutum (“stupid”) + fulmen (“lightning”), derived from a 1680 pamphlet by Thomas Barlow of that title, originally from a passage of Pliny's Natural History: "hinc bruta fulmina et vana" ("these senseless and ineffectual thunder-claps", intended as a literal description of lightning).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: bruta fulminaLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Plural nouns — Because its plural is irregular
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.