Hurricane: A Storm Name From the Caribbean

What Does Hurricane Mean?

A hurricane is a very large, very strong tropical storm, with heavy rain and winds of about 119 km/h (74 mph) or more. It forms over warm ocean water, and in English it is the name used for these storms in the Atlantic and the eastern Pacific.

🔊 Pronunciation

HUR-i-kun

The stress is on the first part. British speakers often say HUR-i-kun; American speakers often say HUR-i-kayn.

🗣️ Natural Examples

The weather service warned that a hurricane would reach the coast by Friday.
During the hurricane, the power went out for three days.
We were lucky: the hurricane turned north before it reached the island.

🛠️ How to Use It

Hurricane is a countable noun. Use a hurricane for one storm and hurricanes for the season: the hurricane season is the time of year when these storms are most common.

Weather reports also use landfall, which means that the storm reaches land: the hurricane made landfall near the city at midnight.

🤝 Common Word Partners

• a hurricane warning / a hurricane watch
• the hurricane season
• a hurricane hits / a hurricane strikes
• a category 4 hurricane (scales that rate how strong it is)

👯 Similar and Related Words

• typhoon: the same kind of storm, but the name used in the western Pacific.
• cyclone: the name used in the Indian Ocean and around Australia.
• tornado: a much smaller, very violent storm, usually over land. A tornado is not a hurricane.

💡 The OddLingo Trick

One storm, three names, depending on the ocean: hurricane in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific, typhoon in the western Pacific, and cyclone in the Indian Ocean. If you hear the word in a news report, check the place first.

Where Does It Come From?

The word is usually traced to hurakán, a word from the Taíno people of the Caribbean, which reached English through Spanish. Early English spellings varied for a long time. The exact route of the word through Spanish is not fully documented.