tyfoon
English
editNoun
edittyfoon (plural tyfoons)
Dutch
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editProbably ultimately of Sinitic origin, Mandarin 大风 (dàfēng, “big wind”), Cantonese 大風/大风 (daai6 fung1, “big wind”), via Arabic طُوفَان (ṭūfān), Hindi तूफ़ान (tūfān), and Persian توفان (tufân). Ancient Greek Τυφῶν (Tuphôn, “Typhon, father of the winds”) is unrelated but has secondarily contaminated the word: given the location of typhoons as a Pacific Ocean phenomenon, it is more likely it began east and moved west.
Pronunciation
editNoun
edittyfoon m (plural tyfoons, diminutive tyfoontje n)