English
tornado
Tornado comes from Spanish tronada ‘thunderstorm’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)tenh₂-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)tenh₂-‘to thunder’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)tonh₂éyetireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tonaōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtonō‘to thunder’
- Spanishc. 1500–presenttronar‘to thunder’
- Spanish, derivedc. 1500–presenttronada‘thunderstorm’
- Englishearliest quotation 2012tornado
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)tenh₂-‘to thunder’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)tonh₂éyetireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tonaōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtonō‘to thunder’
- Spanishc. 1500–presenttronar‘to thunder’
- Spanish, derivedc. 1500–presenttronada‘thunderstorm’
- Englishearliest quotation 2012tornado
Earliest quotation: 2012, Robin Nicole: “And so on Friday nights, James Torin tornadoed through…”
The story
From earlier English ternado, attested since the 1550s as a nautical term for a windy thunderstorm. The o and r were reversed in English (metathesis) under influence of Spanish tornar (‘to twist, to turn’), from Latin tornō (‘to turn’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)tenh₂- ‘to thunder’
through Latin tonō ‘to thunder’
Today it means
noun A violent wind in the form of a mobile, rapidly rotating, funnel cloud that has contacted the ground.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)tenh₂- / tornado