blixt

Deverbal from blixta, which is itself from blixa. More under entry blixtra. Cognate of German Blitz and Dutch bliksem.

• IPA^(key): /blɪkːst/

• Audio:

  (file)

blixt c

2. (a bolt of) lightning, a lightning bolt (a single discharge of lightning)

   Synonym: (dated, poetic) ljungeld

   Det är en myt att blixten aldrig slår ner två gånger på samma ställe.

   It is a myth that lightning never strikes twice in the same place.

   Två blixtar slog ned i samma träd.

   Two bolts of lightning struck the same tree.

   • 1929, Hjalmar Söderberg, Resan till Rom [The Trip to Rome]‎^[1], Albert Bonniers förlag, accessed at Litteraturbanken.se, courtesy of Göteborgs universitetsbibliotek, archived from the original on 29 August 2025:

     Och jag, jag störtade ut i natten, i åska och störtregn. Blixtarna lyste min väg.

     And I—I rushed out into the night, into thunder and pouring rain. The lightning bolts lit my way.

   • 1933, Selma Lagerlöf, Jerusalem II: I det heliga landet [Jerusalem II: In the Holy Land]‎^[2], Albert Bonniers förlag, accessed at Litteraturbanken.se, courtesy of Göteborgs universitetsbibliotek, archived from the original on 29 August 2025, page 60:

     Hon gick några steg ännu. Därpå störtade hon till marken liksom träffad av blixten.

     She took a few more steps. Then she collapsed to the ground, as if struck by lightning.

   • 1999 November 17, 1973 års bibelkommission, “Matteusevangeliet 28:3 [Matthew 28:3]”, in Bibel 2000‎^[3], © Svenska Bibelsällskapet, accessed at Bible.com, archived from the original on 29 August 2025:

     Hans utseende var som blixten och hans kläder vita som snö.

     His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.

3. a flash (burst of light)
4. a flash (device which can produce a short burst of light, e.g. for photography)

• In compounds, it may also refer to something which happens very quickly.

• åska

• blixt in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker
• blixt in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)