電

Lightning; a lightning bolt. When used attributively, it denotes qualities associated with a strike: flashing, sudden, blinding, or instantaneous.

Functions as both a noun and an attributive modifier.

Distinguished from 雷 (thunder) by sensory modality: 電 refers to the visual flash/strike, whereas 雷 refers to the auditory boom/rumble.

Tang-period reading: *dhèn. Simplified variant: 电 (U+7535).

The component 申 originally served as the pictograph for a lightning bolt; the rain radical 雨 was added later as a semantic classifier.

In very early texts, 申 may appear independently to mean "lightning" in meteorological contexts before the addition of the rain radical became standard.