Word of the Day

: June 5, 2012

tempestuous

adjective tem-PESS-chuh-wus

What It Means

: of, relating to, or resembling a tempest : turbulent, stormy

tempestuous in Context

Because the player's relationship with his manager had grown more tempestuous over the course of the season, the decision to trade him benefited everyone.

"An East Tennessee April can be tempestuous and temperamental, and in Knoxville nothing causes quite as much worry about the weather as the Dogwood Arts Festival." - From an article by Amy McRary in the Knoxville News-Sentinel, April 1, 2012

Did You Know?

Time is sometimes marked in seasons, and seasons are associated with the weather. This explains how "tempus," the Latin word for "time" could have given rise to an English adjective for things turbulent and stormy. "Tempus" is the root behind Old Latin "tempestus," meaning "season," and Late Latin "tempestuosus," the direct ancestor of "tempestuous." As you might expect, "tempus" is also the root of the noun "tempest"; it probably played a role in the history of "temper" as well, but that connection isn't definite.