Is It Lightning, Lighting, or Lightening

This Meteorology 101 post was inadvertently suggested by WeatherBrains’ panelist Rick Smith, who posted a tweet about lightning, lighting, and lightening. Sometimes the 101 segment is just educational and sometimes it incorporates education and a rant such as this.

If I could nominate a word in the field of meteorology for king of the most misspelled category, my nomination would be lightning. I along with most meteorologists just absolutely cringe when we see the word used and misspelled.

Lightning, the occurrence of a natural electrical discharge of very short duration and high voltage between a cloud and the ground or within a cloud, accompanied by a bright flash and thunder, is the word we’re typically trying to use. It’s spelled l i g h t n i n g. But it can often be spelled, incorrectly I might add, as l i g h t i n g (note no N) or l i g h t e n i n g (note the addition of an E). Neither of these has any relationship to the one that produces thunder.

Lighting is the equipment we use at various locations to produce more light; it is NOT accompanied by thunder, but a lighting tower will definitely make a loud crash if it falls to the ground.

Lightening refers to making something lighter, as in to weigh less. It’s also used in the medical profession for a drop in the level of the uterus during the last weeks of pregnancy. No, this is not MedicalBrains, but I can’t help but wonder if physicians cringe over the misspelling of this term in their profession.

One more note: spelling the word correctly depends solely on YOU because all three words will legitimately pass all spell checking programs.

So we say it often, lightning deserves our respect. Please give it the respect it needs by spelling the word correctly – L I G H T N I N G.

Category: ALL POSTS, Met 101/Weather History