Etymology Explorer › French

Where does “tsunami” come from?

tsunami (French) comes from Japanese 津波, from Japanese 波, from Middle Chinese 波.

tsunami (French): tsunami

Definitions

  1. tsunami

Ancestry of “tsunami”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese津波a tsunami; a tidal wave; a tidal bore
2Japanese波wave
3Middle Chinese波—

Words derived from “tsunami”

  • mégatsunami
Every word from Middle Chinese 波 →