turmoil Look up turmoil at Dictionary.com
1526, perhaps an alteration of M.Fr. tremouille "mill hopper," in reference to the hopper's constant motion to and fro, from L. trimodia "vessel containing three modii," from modius, a Roman dry measure, related to modus "measure." Attested earlier in Eng. as a verb (c.1511), though this now is obsolete.