tornado English · revision 39405

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1556|origins=la tonō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /tɔː(ɹ)ˈneɪ.dəʊ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /tɔɹˈneɪ.doʊ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably [[bor|es|tronada|t=thunderstorm]] in an altered form,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|es|tronar|t=to thunder]], from [[la|tonō|t=to thunder]].^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) The earliest English form, [[m|en|ternado]], exists in neither Spanish nor Portuguese, and the OED takes it for a blundered adaptation of the Spanish noun.^(OED 2026)^(Dictionary.com 2016) From the 1620s the spellings [[m|en|turnado]] and [[m|en|tournado]] and the modern one show the influence of [[m|es|tornar|t=to turn]], from [[m|la|tornō|t=to turn on a lathe]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) and of the Spanish past participle [[m|es|tornado|t=turned]];^(MWU 2024)^(AHD 2024) Ayto calls this a piece of English folk etymology.^(Ayto 2005)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A violent thunderstorm of the tropical Atlantic, with torrential rain and sudden gusts, a navigators' term: 1556 according to Merriam-Webster and Barnhart,^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) 1589 in the OED, in an account of William Towrson's voyage printed by Hakluyt.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 17th century the word also named the season of such storms (1634 to 1698).^(OED 2026) From 1626 it also named a rotating storm on the west coast of Africa.^(OED 2026) Johnson (1755) defined it simply as "a hurricane; a whirlwind".^(Johnson 1755) The destructive funnel-shaped storm of the Mississippi region is described from 1849, by Charles Lyell,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) and the figurative sense, a violent outburst or a person who acts like one, from 1818.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1556 – ''ternado'', a tropical thunderstorm.^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1589 – first OED quotation (Hakluyt).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1620s – the spelling ''tornado''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1626 – a rotating storm off West Africa.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1818 – figurative use.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1849 – a funnel-cloud storm in the US.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A violently rotating column of air that reaches the ground from a [[thunderstorm]], usually seen as a [[funnel]]-shaped cloud and moving along a narrow path.^(COED 2004)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A violent [[squall]] with a thunderstorm, on the coast of West Africa.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A violently active or destructive person or thing.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A tropical thunderstorm.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tornadic]]

+ * [[tornadolike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[thunder]]

+ * [[astonish]]

+ * [[detonate]]

+ * [[turn]]

+ * [[twister]]

+ * [[cyclone]]

+ * [[hurricane]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}