tornado

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)tenh₂-“to thunder”
2. Latin · derived fromtonō“to thunder”
3. Spanish · derived fromtronada“thunderstorm”
4. English todaytornado

From earlier English ternado, attested since the 1550s as a nautical term for a windy thunderstorm. From Spanish tronada (“thunderstorm”), from tronar (“to thunder”), from Latin tonō (“to thunder”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tenh₂- (“to thunder”). The o and r were reversed in English (metathesis) under influence of Spanish tornar (“to twist, to turn”), from Latin tornō (“to turn”).

Words from the same roots