Saint Elmo's fire
- noun
- /seɪnt ˈɛlmoʊz faɪər/
- Specialized
:
fuego de San Elmo
- During the thunderstorm, the crew was awed by the sight of Saint Elmo's fire shimmering on the tips of the sail.
Examples
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Saint Elmo's fire!
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Many people believe that Saint Elmo's fire is a good omen for travelers caught in a storm at sea.
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Saint Elmo's fire.
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As the storm approached, sailors spotted a glowing light on the ship's mast, which they recognized as Saint Elmo's fire.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A blue glow that appears on pointed objects like ship masts or airplane wings during thunderstorms
A bluish purple glow that appears on pointed metal parts like ship masts or airplane wings during storms
A blue or purple light that appears on pointed objects like ship masts during storms
A glowing electric light that appears on pointed objects like a ship's mast during storms
A faint blue glow that appears on ship masts or airplane wings during storms caused by electricity in the air
A faint light that appears when electricity passes through air, like on antennas or wires
A faint glow around a high-voltage wire when the air becomes charged
A faint glow of electricity around a high-voltage wire
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is an eponymic, specialized name for an electrical discharge; knowing 'saint' and 'fire' (and an unfamiliar proper name 'Elmo') does not allow a B1 learner to infer a visible blue/violet electrical phenomenon. The meaning is encyclopedic and culturally specific rather than compositionally derived from its parts, so prior exposure or explanation is required.
Etymology
Saint Elmo's fire may come from old sailors who saw a blue glow on ship masts and wires during storms and thought it was the light of Saint Elmo watching over them, so they called the glow a 'fire' even though it was not a real flame. Today Saint Elmo's fire means the bright electric glow you can see on pointed objects like masts or wings during a storm.