# cyclone

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈsaɪ.kloʊn/ · frequency rank #14,732

## Definitions
1. Any weather phenomenon consisting of a system of winds rotating around a centre of low atmospheric pressure; a low pressure system.
2. A tropical cyclone occurring in the South Pacific or Indian Ocean.
3. The more or less violent, small-scale circulations such as tornadoes, waterspouts, and dust devils.
4. A strong wind.
5. A cyclone separator; the cylindrical vortex tube within such a separator

## Etymology
Coined by Henry Piddington, probably in the 1840s, and based on some term in Ancient Greek. Sources disagree on the date and on which Ancient Greek term, though it had to be something derived from either κύκλος (kúklos, “circle, wheel”) or κυκλόω (kuklóō, “go around in a circle, form a circle, encircle”), for example the present active participle κυκλῶν (kuklôn). See cycle and wheel.

## Easily confused with
- **cyclops** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cyclone-vs-cyclops)
- **cycle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cycle-vs-cyclone)
- **clone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clone-vs-cyclone)
- **cycling** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cycling-vs-cyclone)

## Common misspellings (11)
`ccyclone`, `ccylone`, `cycclone`, `cycllone`, `cyclnoe`, `cycloen`, `cyclonne`, `cycolne`, `cylcone`, `cyyclone`, `ycclone`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cyclone