typhoon en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- tīfo͞onʹ (General-American)
- /taɪˈfun/ (General-American)
- /taɪˈfuːn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (US) audio
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
English texts mention typhon, tiphon as a Greek word for "whirlwind" since at least the 1550s, referring to Ancient Greek τυφῶν (tuphôn), τυφώς (tuphṓs, “whirlwind”) (the latter attested since Aeschylus), Τυφῶν (Tuphôn, “Typhon, father of the winds”). (French typhon (“whirlwind”) is said to be attested since 1504.) However, the first use of it as an English word for a whirlwind or storm dates to 1588, in the spelling Touffon, in the specific sense "giant storm in the Pacific"; this sense first appears in Europe in the mid 16th century in Portuguese tufão (attested since at least 1560), whence it entered English. Portuguese sailors likely got the word from Arabic طُوفَان (ṭūfān) (compare Persian طوفان (tufân), Hindi तूफ़ान (tūfān)), and some spellings of the English word (like tufan) seem to derive from that Arabic word. The Arabic word's origin is sometimes thought to be Sinitic 大風／大风 ("big wind", Mandarin dàfēng, Cantonese daai6 fung1 /taːi̯²² fʊŋ⁵⁵/, Hakka thai-fûng /tʰai̯⁵⁵ fuŋ²⁴/), and some English forms like tyfoong, tyfung are from or were modified based on Chinese. However, the Arabic word may be entirely Semitic from the native root ط و ف (ṭ w f) in the sense of the wind circling around, or it might derive from Greek. (Some sources even suggest the term originated in Greek and travelled via Arabic to Chinese before making its way back into Arabic and back to Europe.) Over time, the spelling of the word in English was influenced by the Greek word.
Meanings
- A severe tropical cyclone; an intense, rotating storm.
-
(in particular) A weather phenomenon in the northwestern Pacific that is precisely equivalent to a hurricane except for its geographical region, typically resulting in wind speeds of 64 knots (119 km/h) or above. Equivalent to a cyclone in the Indian Ocean and Indonesia and Australia.
Near-synonyms: cyclone (narrow sense), hurricane
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| tifoon | alternative | lexicographic | |
| touffon | alternative | lexicographic | |
| tyfung | alternative | lexicographic | |
| touffan | alternative | lexicographic | |
| typhoons | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| toofan | alternative | lexicographic | |
| tufon | alternative | lexicographic | |
| tuffoon | alternative | lexicographic | |
| tyfoon | alternative | lexicographic | |
| tufan | alternative | lexicographic | |
| typhon | alternative | lexicographic | |
| ty-fung | alternative | lexicographic | |
| tyfoong | alternative | lexicographic | |
| tuffon | alternative | lexicographic | |
| tiffoon | alternative | lexicographic | |
| ty-foong | alternative | lexicographic |
Deriveds
typhoonic · Typhoon Alley · landphoon · typhoonlike · typhoon chaser · typhoonproof · typhoon shelter · typhoonish · supertyphoon · typhoon hunter · typhoon fifth
Descendants
tyfon · tyfon · 台风 · tyfon · Taifun · 颱風 · тайфу́н · တိုင်ဖွန်း · taifuuni · tajfun · թայֆուն · tayfun · টাইফুন
Hypernyms
tropical cyclone · cyclone · storm
Synonyms
Translations (121)
hak 風搓 /风搓 (hurricane in the Pacific) · th ไต้ฝุ่น (hurricane in the Pacific) · ka ტაიფუნი (hurricane in the Pacific) · cy teiffŵn (hurricane in the Pacific) · ar تَايْفُون (hurricane in the Pacific) · af tifoon (hurricane in the Pacific) · az tufan (hurricane in the Pacific) · ur طوفان (hurricane in the Pacific) · ga tíofún (hurricane in the Pacific) · sq taifun (hurricane in the Pacific) · wuu 颱風 /台风 (hurricane in the Pacific) · he טיפון (hurricane in the Pacific) · sl tajfun (hurricane in the Pacific) · si ටයිෆූන් (hurricane in the Pacific) · kne lemlem (hurricane in the Pacific) · bn ঘূর্ণিঝড় (hurricane in the Pacific) · nl taifoen (hurricane in the Pacific) · kne pewek (hurricane in the Pacific) · is fellibylur (hurricane in the Pacific) · ml ചുഴലിക്കാറ്റ് (hurricane in the Pacific) · trv sbgihur paru (hurricane in the Pacific) · my တိုင်ဖွန်း (hurricane in the Pacific) · nl tyfoon (hurricane in the Pacific) · tr tayfun (hurricane in the Pacific) · cs tajfun (hurricane in the Pacific) · ar طُوفَان (hurricane in the Pacific) · vi bão (hurricane in the Pacific) · alt тайфун (hurricane in the Pacific) · hak 颱風 /台风 (hurricane in the Pacific) · tao angin (hurricane in the Pacific) · tao kakawan (hurricane in the Pacific) · tg тӯфон (hurricane in the Pacific) · da taifun (hurricane in the Pacific) · ml കൊടുങ്കാറ്റ് (hurricane in the Pacific) · kn ಬಿರುಗಾಳಿ ಮಳೆ (hurricane in the Pacific) · no taifun (hurricane in the Pacific) · lo ໄຕ້ຝຸ່ນ (hurricane in the Pacific) · ami faliyos (hurricane in the Pacific) · bg тайфу́н (hurricane in the Pacific) · xsy ba꞉yoS (hurricane in the Pacific) · dru valrigi (hurricane in the Pacific) · sh тајфун (hurricane in the Pacific) · yue 颱風 /台风 (hurricane in the Pacific) · kk дауыл (hurricane in the Pacific) · hu tájfun (hurricane in the Pacific) · za rumzhwx (hurricane in the Pacific) · bn টাইফুন (hurricane in the Pacific) · bo མཚོ་རླུང (hurricane in the Pacific) · sxr pariavaratʉ (hurricane in the Pacific) · ug سەھنە ئىستىلى (hurricane in the Pacific) · mk тајфун (hurricane in the Pacific) · az tayfun (hurricane in the Pacific) · pl tajfun (hurricane in the Pacific) · te తుఫాను (hurricane in the Pacific) · be тайфу́н (hurricane in the Pacific) · pyu bariwan (hurricane in the Pacific) · ro taifun (hurricane in the Pacific) · ia typhon (hurricane in the Pacific) · kk тайфун (hurricane in the Pacific) · uk тайфу́н (hurricane in the Pacific) · sv tyfon (hurricane in the Pacific) · szy baliyus (hurricane in the Pacific) · rsk тайфун (hurricane in the Pacific) · da tyfon (hurricane in the Pacific) · lo ພາຍຸໄຕ້ຝຸ່ນ (hurricane in the Pacific) · eo tajfuno (hurricane in the Pacific) · mrw barat (hurricane in the Pacific) · ja 颱風 (hurricane in the Pacific) · sh tajfun (hurricane in the Pacific) · ssf shiraus (hurricane in the Pacific) · lt taifūnas (hurricane in the Pacific) · cmn 颱風 /台风 (hurricane in the Pacific) · tk taýfun (hurricane in the Pacific) · ca tifó (hurricane in the Pacific) · de Taifun (hurricane in the Pacific) · ja 台風 (hurricane in the Pacific) · uz tayfun (hurricane in the Pacific) · trv bohu (hurricane in the Pacific) · eu tifoi (hurricane in the Pacific) · bcl bagyo (hurricane in the Pacific) · mn хар салхи (hurricane in the Pacific) · trv bgihur paru (hurricane in the Pacific) · fa طوفان (hurricane in the Pacific) · cdo 風颱 /风台 (hurricane in the Pacific) · no tyfon (hurricane in the Pacific) · sw taifuni (hurricane in the Pacific) · io tifono (hurricane in the Pacific) · hy թայֆուն (hurricane in the Pacific) · hi तूफ़ान (hurricane in the Pacific) · nan-hbl 風颱 /风台 (hurricane in the Pacific) · es tifón (hurricane in the Pacific) · id topan (hurricane in the Pacific) · bnn balivus (hurricane in the Pacific) · hi आंधी (hurricane in the Pacific) · xnb sooraru (hurricane in the Pacific) · la typhonas (hurricane in the Pacific) · pt tufão (hurricane in the Pacific) · fr typhon (hurricane in the Pacific) · ta சூறாவளி (hurricane in the Pacific) · fi taifuuni (hurricane in the Pacific) · ru тайфу́н (hurricane in the Pacific) · id taifun (hurricane in the Pacific) · yi טײַפֿון (hurricane in the Pacific) · ky тайфун (hurricane in the Pacific) · hi चक्रवात (hurricane in the Pacific) · km (ព្យុះ)ទីហ្វុង (hurricane in the Pacific) · tl bagyo (hurricane in the Pacific) · lv taifūns (hurricane in the Pacific) · tsu cmoehu (hurricane in the Pacific) · tsg hunus (hurricane in the Pacific) · mi haumātakataka (hurricane in the Pacific) · sk tajfun (hurricane in the Pacific) · ms taufan (hurricane in the Pacific) · it tifone (hurricane in the Pacific) · ckv banged (hurricane in the Pacific) · ar إِعْصَار (hurricane in the Pacific) · el τυφώνας (hurricane in the Pacific) · et taifuun (hurricane in the Pacific) · pwn raljiz (hurricane in the Pacific) · ko 태풍 (hurricane in the Pacific) · mi huripari (hurricane in the Pacific)