typhoon
/tʌɪˈfuːn
/noun
A tropical storm in the region of the Indian or western Pacific oceans.There has been an observed and recorded link between the sea surface temperature and the frequency and intensity of tropical storms, typhoons and hurricanes....
- It is the super-cells within the tropical cyclones, such as hurricanes or typhoons that produce very heavy downpours as these storms start to move inland.
- Hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons, lightning storms, nothing was a match for what was experienced almost every night in our house.
Synonyms
cyclone, tropical storm, storm, tornado, hurricane, windstorm, whirlwind
North American informal twister
Derivatives
typhonic
- They said it's a "typhonic" wind.
- Unless there is a major melt or typhonic rainstorm you should be able to ford it on foot.
- The runoff from these typhonic rains, when added to rivers already swollen by monsoon rains, creates floods.
Origin
Late 16th century: partly via Portuguese from Arabic ṭūfān (perhaps from Greek tuphōn 'whirlwind'); reinforced by Chinese dialect tai fung 'big wind'.
The fierce tropical storm brings together two sources, Arabic tūfān, which may be from Greek tuphōn ‘whirlwind’, and Chinese dialect tai fung ‘big wind’. The Portuguese picked up the first in the Indian oceans, while merchants and sailors in the China seas would have encountered the Chinese expression. A wide variety of spellings appeared before the word finally settled down into typhoon in the 19th century. See also tornado, tsunami