The first step we are going to take before delving fully into the meaning of the term fulminant is to know its etymological origin. In this case, we can emphasize that it is a word that derives from Latin, exactly from “fulminas, fulminantis”. This word, in turn, comes from the verb “fulminare”, which can be translated as “launch electric rays”.
The adjective fulminating is linked to the verb fulminate : send off rays, melt, leave someone exhausted, cause death. The concept has multiple uses according to the context.
For example: “The new tax proposed by the government would be devastating for our sector: more than a thousand companies could close their doors” , “The second goal of the local team was devastating” , “In a devastating collision between two motorcycles, three young people lost life.”
Among the synonyms of fulminant we find words such as radical, sudden, sudden, meteoric or blunt. On the contrary, among its antonyms we can highlight others such as slow, progressive, gradual, gradual or parsimonious.
One of the meanings of detonator that the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) mentions in its dictionary refers to that which can cause an explosion due to explosive charges. The fulminating gunpowder , in this framework, is flammable when rubbed or collided with a hard body.
With respect to this meaning related to explosions we have to emphasize the existence of what is known as a detonating capsule. This, which also responds to the name piston, refers to the part of an explosive cartridge in which the explosive substance in question is precisely housed.
The origin of this aforementioned capsule is found in the 19th century, specifically, in the percussion weapons of that time and we must also know that there are two different types of it. Thus, on the one hand, there is the capsule that is based on the Berdan system, which was created in the second half of the 19th century by the American colonel Hiram Berdan. This system establishes that the anvil is responsible for bringing the fire to the capsule through two ears.
On the other hand, there is the detonating capsule based on the Boxer system, which was created by a British admiral who gave it his last name. In that case, the fire reaches the explosive matter through a single ear.
Fulminant gold , on the other hand, is gold precipitated from aqua regia using ammonia, capable of causing an explosion by percussion or rubbing.
The most common use of the notion, in any case, is associated with that which generates an immediate effect or that occurs suddenly : “The striker scored the first goal of the national team with a devastating right foot” , “The new film of the English filmmaker had a resounding success, reaching a million-dollar gross just a few days after it was released,” “The news anchor was suddenly fired after he expressed his disagreement with the directors of the channel" .
Suppose a person who was in good health contracts an infection and, three days later, dies. It can be said that the subject was the victim of a fulminant infection that ended his life abruptly.