tempest (n.)
"violent storm," late 13c., from Old French tempeste "storm; commotion, battle; epidemic, plague" (11c.), from Vulgar Latin *tempesta, from Latin tempestas "a storm, commotion; weather, season; occasion, time," related to tempus "time, season" (see temporal).
Latin sense evolution is from "period of time" to "period of weather," to "bad weather" to "storm." Words for "weather" originally were words for "time" in languages from Russia to Brittany. Figurative sense of "violent commotion" in English is recorded from early 14c. Tempest in a teapot attested from 1818; the image in other forms is older, such as storm in a creambowl (1670s).
updated on December 15, 2015
Dictionary entries near tempest
temperamental
temperance
temperate
temperature
tempered
tempest
tempestuous
Templar
template
temple
tempo