Spanish Word of the Day: Fuego artificial (firework)

We see them lighting up the night sky on New Year’s Eve, at weddings, and on Independence Day, bursting, exploding, and dazzling us with vibrant colours and shapes. Those magical displays of light that turn the dark sky into a canvas are fuegos artificiales, or what we call fireworks in English.

The term fuego artificial comes from two Spanish words: fuego (fire) and artificial (artificial), meaning artificial fires in English. Fuego originates from the Latin word focus, which means fire or hearth. In Spanish, fuego refers to flames, fire, or a blaze. The word artificial also comes from Latin, from the term artificialis, meaning something made or created by human skill, such as fireworks that are unnatural because they are crafted and man-made.

El fuego artificial is a masculine noun that takes the following definite and indefinite articles.

• el fuego artificial = the firework
• los fuegos artificiales = the firework
• un fuego artificial = the firework
• unos fuegos artificiales = the firework

We usually talk about this term in its plural form rather than its singular form since seeing fireworks means seeing more than one at a time displayed in the sky.

Fuegos artificiales are used for festividades (festivities), celebraciones (celebrations), and ocasiones especiales (special occasions). We typically see them on the night of Año Nuevo (New Year’s Eve) or Día de la Independencia (Independence Day) for various countries. They are even used at conciertos (concerts), aniversarios (anniversaries), and bodas (weddings).

Fireworks are said to have been inventados (invented) around the 7th century in China during the Tan Dynasty. This is when pólvora (gunpowder) was discovered, and the Chinese experimented and made the fireworks. At first, fuegos articiales were just a loud explosión (explosion) created from a barrel of gunpowder that was encendido (ignited).

Fun Fact:

Firework displays are created to make sequences and patterns that are synchronised with music or events to enhance the visual experience for viewers. When they explode, they form patrones (patterns) and formas (shapes) in the sky and look like mini falling stars. Fuegos artificiales are designed in the form of rockets or small balls filled with powder and chemicals and are then shot from a tube.

Pirotecnia (pyrotechnics) refers to the science and art of creating and using fireworks or other explosive devices to produce efectos visuales y auditivos (visual and auditory effects). The word comes from the Greek words pur (fire) and techne (art or skill), which together mean the art of fire.

Fuegos artificiales were primarily used for ceremonias religiosas (religious ceremonies) because it was believed the loud noise from the explosion would ward off espíritus malignos (evil spirits) and scare away energías negativas (negative energies).

Eventually, fireworks spread throughout Asia and reached Europe through trade, becoming especially popular in Italy in the 13^th century and used for celebrations. Over time, they became key for celebrations such as feriados nacionales (national holidays), eventos especiales (special events), eventos religiosos (religious celebrations), and fiestas privadas (private parties).

Places like Mexico, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, and China display fuegos artificiales for their independence day. In China, they are used to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new one, as well as driving away mala suerte (bad luck).

As mentioned before, more people are including them in private parties such as bodas (weddings), aniversarios (anniversaries), and fiestas de cumpleaños (birthday parties). In weddings, they are symbols of new beginnings. They are also seen at special events such as propuestas de bodas (proposals), aperturas de eventos (event openings), eventos deportivos (sports events), campeonatos (championships), and during conciertos (concerts). You can also see them in parques temáticos (theme parks) such as Disneyland for their night shows and at the cierre de eventos grandes (closing of major events) like the Olympics. In some cultures, fireworks are used in religious festivals to mark special occasions or to honor deities.

Other names fuegos artificales may go by depending on the region are the following terms:

• cohetes = rockets: another name for fireworks in Spanish
• pirotécnicos = pyrotechnics: the art of creating fireworks but used as an alternate name
• chispas = sparks: referring to the smaller spark-producing fireworks
• bombas = bombs: referring to the large explosive fireworks that make a loud noise
• luminarias = luminaries: refers to the decorative lighting of the firework
• fuegos de artificio= another way to say “fuegos artificiales”

The term fuegos artificiales can also be used metaphorically to refer to something spectacular or impressive, even when no display of real fireworks is present.

Spanish idioms featuring ‘fuego artificial’