typhoon

• n. [氣象] 台風

來自希臘語 typhon,旋風，可能來自 typhein,冒煙，詞源同 typhus,或來自 PIE*dheub,深的，地 底的，詞源同 deep.後用於指熱帶風暴台風最早見於 16 世紀在南亞和東亞附近開拓殖民地的 葡萄牙人的描述，據說是來自阿拉伯語 tufan,怒吼的風，旋轉的風暴，可能為擬聲詞，也有 說法是該阿拉伯詞原為借自希臘語 typhon,旋風。但同時，詞義和拚寫又同時受到漢語台風 的影響。令人抓狂的是，漢語台風在詞源上同樣說不清楚，較常見的說法有來自廣東話大風 變音，或因從台灣海峽進入大陸，簡稱台風，還有一種說法就是荷蘭人占領台灣後，借用自 希臘語 typhon,旋風，最後普通話翻譯為台風。更多參照百度百科。

typhoon

typhoon: [16] A typhoon is etymologically a ‘great wind’. The word was adapted from Cantonese Chinese daai feng ‘great wind’, its form no doubt influenced by Greek Tūphón, father of the winds in Greek mythology (his name was derived from the verb túphein ‘smoke’, which also produced túphos ‘smoke’, hence ‘fever causing delusion’, source of English stew, typhoid, and typhus).

typhoon (n.)

Tiphon "violent storm, whirlwind, tornado," 1550s, from Greek typhon "whirlwind," personified as a giant, father of the winds, perhaps from typhein "to smoke" (see typhus), but according to Watkins from PIE *dheub- "deep, hollow," via notion of "monster from the depths." The meaning "cyclone, violent hurricane of India or the China Seas" is first recorded 1588 in Thomas Hickock's translation of an account in Italian of a voyage to the East Indies by Caesar Frederick, a merchant of Venice:

concerning which Touffon ye are to vnderstand, that in the East Indies often times, there are not stormes as in other countreys; but euery 10. or 12. yeeres there are such tempests and stormes, that it is a thing incredible, but to those that haue seene it, neither do they know certainly what yeere they wil come. ["The voyage and trauell of M. Caesar Fredericke, Marchant of Venice, into the East India, and beyond the Indies"]

This sense of the word, in reference to titanic storms in the East Indies, first appears in Europe in Portuguese in the mid-16th century. It aparently is from tufan, a word in Arabic, Persian, and Hindi meaning "big cyclonic storm." Yule ["Hobson-Jobson," London, 1903] writes that "the probability is that Vasco [da Gama] and his followers got the tufao ... direct from the Arab pilots."

The Arabic word sometimes is said to be from Greek typhon, but other sources consider it purely Semitic, though the Greek word might have influenced the form of the word in English. Al-tufan occurs several times in the Koran for "a flood or storm" and also for Noah's Flood. Chinese (Cantonese) tai fung "a great wind" also might have influenced the form or sense of the word in English, and that term and the Indian one may have had some mutual influence; toofan still means "big storm" in India.

From the thighs downward he was nothing but coiled serpents, and his arms which, when he spread them out, reached a hundred leagues in either direction, had countless serpents' heads instead of hands. His brutish ass-head touched the stars, his vast wings darkened the sun, fire flashed from his eyes, and flaming rocks hurtled from his mouth. [Robert Graves, "Typhon," in "The Greek Myths"]

1. The typhoon sank a ferry, drowning over 200 people.

那場台風使一條渡船沉沒, 淹死200多人.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

2. A typhoon is now approaching Hong Kong.

台風現正逼近香港.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

3. The typhoon uprooted numerous trees.

台風把許多樹連根拔起.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

4. In May a typhoon hit the Philippines.

5月,台風襲擊了菲律賓.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

5. The typhoon hit the coastal areas.

台風侵襲沿海地區.

來自《現代漢英綜合大詞典》