different between typhoon vs waterspout

English

Etymology

Its ultimate origin is generally thought to be Sinitic ????? ("big wind", Mandarin dàf?ng, Cantonese daai6 fung1).

It entered English as early as 1588, perhaps via Portuguese tufão (attested since at least 1560) from Arabic ???????? (??f?n) (compare Persian ?????? (tufân), Hindi ?????? (t?f?n)).

Within English, its form was influenced by Ancient Greek ????? (Tuphôn, “Typhon, father of the winds”). (Some sources suggest the term originated in Greek and travelled via Arabic to Chinese before making its way back to Europe, but this is implausible.)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ta??fu?n/
• (General American) enPR: t?fo?on?, IPA^(key): /ta??fun/
• Rhymes: -u?n

Noun

typhoon (plural typhoons)

1. A weather phenomenon in the northwestern Pacific that is precisely equivalent to a hurricane, which results in wind speeds of 64 knots (118 km/h) or above. Equivalent to a cyclone in the Indian Ocean and Indonesia/Australia.

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Russian: ??????? (tajfún)
  • ? Kazakh: ?????? (tayfwn)
• ? Turkish: tayfun

Translations

Verb

typhoon (third-person singular simple present typhoons, present participle typhooning, simple past and past participle typhooned)

1. (intransitive) To swirl like a hurricane.

See also

• cyclone
• hurricane
• tornado

References

English

Etymology

water +? spout

Noun

waterspout (plural waterspouts)

1. A whirlwind that forms over water, not associated with a mesocyclone of a thunderstorm (contrary to a true tornado).
2. A true tornado that passes over a body of water.
3. A channel through which water is discharged, especially from the gutters of a roof.

Quotations

water tornado

• 1922, Katherine Mansfield, At The Bay [1]

  Stanley turned over on his back and kicked with his legs till he was a living waterspout.

Hypernyms

(windstorm):

• whirlwind

Related terms

• landspout

Coordinate terms

(windstorm):

• dust devil

See also

(windstorm):

• fire whirl

(water discharge channel):

• gargoyle

Translations