Ever since humanity started to exist, many disastrous events of natural origin have occurred that have brought various tragic losses. But, let’s see the origin of some of the words related to natural disasters.
Catastrophe – from the Greek katastrophe , “sudden end”. This word had its origin in the theater, in ancient Greek dramas; it was the moment when the events turned against the main character, in a movement made by the whole choir in the theater.
Earthquake – from the Latin expression terrae motus , “earth movement”, from terra plus motus , past participle of movere , “to move, to shift, to move from one side to another”.
Flood – from Latin to inundare, to “fill with water, to flood”, from in- , “in”, plus unda , “wave, which arises in great quantity”.
Tsunami – from the Japanese tsunami , from tsu , “port”, plus nami , “wave”. It entered Western terminology around 1905.
Avalanche – from the French avalanche , from Romanche (one of the four official Swiss languages), avalantz , “descent”, probably derived from a pre-Roman alpine language.
Volcano – taken from the name of one of the Roman gods, Vulcan. He was an underground god who worked with iron. He was the maker of lightning that loved to shoot those who bothered him. The inhabitants of the Roman peninsula initially believed that Mount Etna, a still very active volcano, was the chimney of the forges of Vulcan. His name is of Etruscan origin.
Lava – Derivative of the Neapolitan dialect lava , “torrent, liquid course”, from Latin lavare , “to wash”. Initially it applied to torrents of water after showers. Later it began to be used for molten material spills from Vesuvius.
Tremor – from Latin tremere , “to shake”. For a time, tremor also had the meaning of “terror.”
Hurricane – from the Spanish huracán, derived from Taino hurakán , from hura, “wind”.
Typhoon – is the name of the hurricanes in the eastern seas. It comes from the Greek Typhon , “whirlwind”, name given to the giant who was the father of the winds, perhaps derived from typhein , “dropping smoke.”
Tornado – from the Spanish tronada, “thundering”, from the Latin tonare , “emitting great noise”, of onomatopoeic origin.
Cyclone – made from the Greek kyklónas, “what moves in a circle”, of kýklos, “circle”.
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