Where does “tsunami” come from?

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

tsunami (Indonesian): A very large and destructive wave, generally...

Definitions

  1. A very large and destructive wave, generally...

Ancestry of “tsunami”, step by step

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