Added 9 October 2026
cyclone
/ˈsaɪ.kloʊn/ noun
In Latin: none, coined in 1840 Coined: 1840, by Henry Piddington Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about cyclone at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- Any weather phenomenon consisting of a system of winds rotating around a centre of low atmospheric pressure; a low pressure system.
- A tropical cyclone occurring in the South Pacific or Indian Ocean.
- The more or less violent, small-scale circulations such as tornadoes, waterspouts, and dust devils.
verb
Origin
Coined by English scientist and merchant captain Henry Piddington, probably in the 1840s, and based on some term in Ancient Greek. Sources disagree on the date and on which Ancient Greek term, though it had to be something derived from either κύκλος (kúklos, “circle, wheel”) or κυκλόω (kuklóō, “go around in a circle, form a circle, encircle”), for example the present active participle κυκλῶν (kuklôn). See cycle and wheel.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)