# tornado

> English word · Noun · IPA /tɔː(ɹ)ˈneɪ.dəʊ/ · frequency rank #9,411

## Definitions
1. A violent wind in the form of a mobile, rapidly rotating, funnel cloud that has contacted the ground.

## Etymology
From earlier English ternado, attested since the 1550s as a nautical term for a windy thunderstorm. From Spanish tronada (“thunderstorm”), from tronar (“to thunder”), from Latin tonō (“to thunder”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tenh₂- (“to thunder”). The o and r were reversed in English (metathesis) under influence of Spanish tornar (“to twist, to turn”), from Latin tornō (“to turn”).

## Easily confused with
- **torpedo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tornado-vs-torpedo)
- **tornados** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tornado-vs-tornados)
- **tornadoes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tornado-vs-tornadoes)

## Common misspellings (10)
`otrnado`, `tonrado`, `torando`, `tornaddo`, `tornaod`, `torndao`, `tornnado`, `torrnado`, `tronado`, `ttornado`

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