Detonate is from Latin detonatus, past participle of detonare ('to thunder down, expend thunder'), from de- (intensive) + tonare ('to thunder'). The ancestry passes through Latin detonare, Latin tonare, and Proto-Indo-European *(s)tenh₂-. The prefix de- often marks removal, reversal, or downward motion in Latin formations, helping to explain the word's surface structure. In present use as a verb, it means "to explode or cause to explode with sudden violence", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include thunder, astonish, and stun; derived forms include detonation, detonator, and detonable.