tsunami

See also: Tsunami and tsunâmi

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

tsunami

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• sunami (nonstandard)

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 津(つ)波(なみ) (tsunami), from 津 (tsu, “harbour”) +‎ 波 (nami, “wave”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /(t)suːˈnɑːmi/; enPR: (t)so͞o-nä'mi

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (Canada) IPA^(key): /(t)suˈnæmi/, /(t)suˈnɑmi/
• (Philippines) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃʊˈnami/
• Rhymes: -ɑːmi

Noun

tsunami (plural tsunami or tsunamis)

1. A very large and destructive wave, generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean, such as an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption; often a series of waves (a wave train).

   A tsunami struck Japan recently.

   • 2007 February 20, Tina Kelley, “A Wet Wind Tunnel So Ships Can Move Faster and Better”, in The New York Times‎:

     A wave simulator in the tank can re-enact tsunamis and northeasters, and imitate wave conditions from midocean.

2. (figurative) A large and generally unstoppable surge.
   • 2009, John Bernard Kelly, An Accidental Atheist: A Memoir, Aquinine books, →ISBN, page 306:

     It seemed that what started out as a handful of isolated cases gradually turned into a tsunami of complaints.

   • 2009, Marc Eliot, American Rebel: The Life of Clint Eastwood, Crown Archetype, →ISBN, page 86:

     It set off a tsunami of debate among the more esoteric critics, who either loved it or hated it but could not ignore it.

   • 2012, Demetra M. Pappas, The Euthanasia/Assisted-Suicide Debate, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 60:

     The next decade would culminate in a tsunami of legislation, civil litigation, and criminal prosecutions in which assisted suicide was both criminalized (as in Michigan) and decriminalized (as in Oregon).

   • 2020 August 26, Nigel Harris, “Comment Special: Catastrophe at Carmont”, in Rail, page 4:

     The editor paid a heavy price - he was subsequently compelled to offer a grovelling and humiliating personal apology, following a tsunami of protest.

   • 2025 June 21, Jo Ellison, “The Bezos merger we all want a piece of”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 22:

     Sadly, [Anna] Wintour did not control the weather, which was disappointingly inclement. But, no matter, because the event was awash with a “tsunami of love”.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:tsunami.

Synonyms

• seismic sea wave
• tidal wave (usage conflict)

Derived terms

• fog tsunami
• ice tsunami
• megatsunami
• meteotsunami
• orphaned tsunami
• poonami
• silver tsunami
• teletsunami
• tsunameter
• tsunamic
• tsunamigenic
• tsunamilike
• tsunami wall

Translations

large, destructive wave generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean

Acehnese: ië beuna, alôn buluëk Albanian: cunami Aneityum: najap̃ajap̃ Arabic: تْسُونَامِي m (tsunāmī) Hijazi Arabic: تسونامي (tsūnāmi, tsunāmi) Armenian: ցունամի (hy) (cʻunami) Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܨܘܼܢܵܡܝܼ m (ṣunami) Azerbaijani: sunami Basque: tsunami (eu) Belarusian: цуна́мі n (cunámi) Bengali: সুনামি (bn) (śunami) Bikol Central: dulnop Bulgarian: цуна́ми n (cunámi) Burmese: ဆူနာမီ (hcunami) Catalan: tsunami (ca) m Chinese: Cantonese: 海嘯 / 海啸 (hoi2 siu3) Hokkien: 海漲 / 海涨 (hái-tiòng), chu-ná-mih Mandarin: 海嘯 / 海啸 (zh) (hǎixiào) Czech: tsunami (cs) f (indeclinable) Dairi Batak: gloro, galoro Danish: tsunami (da) c, flodbølge c Dutch: tsunami (nl) m, vloedgolf (nl) m Ende: ae mesi nuka tana lala Esperanto: cunamo Estonian: tsunami (et) Finnish: hyökyaalto (fi), tsunami (fi) French: tsunami (fr) m, raz-de-marée (fr) m Georgian: ცუნამი (cunami) German: Tsunami (de) m Greek: τσουνάμι (el) n (tsounámi) Hausa: tsùnāmī̀ Hawaiian: please add this translation if you can Hebrew: צוּנַמי (he) m (tsunámi) Hindi: सूनामी f (sūnāmī), सुनामी (hi) f (sunāmī) Hungarian: cunami (hu), szökőár (hu) Icelandic: flóðbylgja (is) f Ido: cunamio (io), tsunami (io) Indonesian: tsunami (id), semong Irish: súnámaí m Italian: tsunami (it) m, maremoto (it) m Japanese: 津波 (ja) (つなみ, tsunami), 津浪 (ja) (つなみ, tsunami), 海嘯 (ja) (かいしょう, kaishō) Kannada: ಸುನಾಮಿ (kn) (sunāmi) Kazakh: цунами (sunami) Khmer: ស៊ូណាមិ (suunaamiʼ) Korean: 지진해일(地震海溢) (ko) (jijinhaeil), 쓰나미 (ko) (sseunami), 해일(海溢) (ko) (haeil) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: tsunamî (ku) f Kyrgyz: цунами (ky) (tsunami) Lao: ຊູນາມິ (sū nā mi) Latin: maris mōtus (la) f (post-Classical) Latvian: cunami m Lithuanian: cunamis m Macedonian: цуна́ми n (cunámi) Malay: tsunami, semong Maori: parawhenua, tai āniwhaniwha Marathi: त्सुनामी f (tsunāmī), सुनामी f (sunāmī) Mongolian: Cyrillic: цунами (mn) (cunami) Mongolian: ᠼᠦᠨᠠᠮᠢ (cünami) Navajo: tó nitéél nitságo atságáá Nias: oloro (nia)/galoro Norwegian: Bokmål: tsunami (no) m Nynorsk: flodbølgje f, tsunami m Odia: ସୁନାମି (sunāmi) Okinawan: please add this translation if you can Persian: آبْلَرْزه (âb-larze), سونامی (fa) (sunâmi) Polish: tsunami (pl) n Portuguese: tsunami (pt) m, maremoto (pt) m Punjabi: ਸੁਨਾਮੀ m or f (sunāmī) Romanian: tsunami (ro) n Russian: цуна́ми (ru) n (cunámi) Scottish Gaelic: tsunami f, tonn-tuile m, tonn-taomaidh m Serbo-Croatian: veleval m Cyrillic: цуна́ми m Roman: cunámi (sh) m Sikule: among, emong Simeulue: smong Sinhalese: සුනාමි (sunāmi) Slovak: cunami f or n, tsunami f or n Spanish: tsunami (es) m, maremoto (es) m Swahili: tsunami Swedish: tsunami (sv) c, flodvåg (sv) c Tagalog: tsunami Tajik: тсунами (tsunam-i), сунами (sunam-i) Tamil: ஆழிப்பேரலை (ta) (āḻippēralai), கடற்கோள் (ta) (kaṭaṟkōḷ), சுனாமி (ta) (cuṉāmi) Tatar: цунами (tsunami) Telugu: సునామి (sunāmi) Thai: สึนามิ (th) (sʉ̀-naa-mí), คลื่นยักษ์ (klʉ̂ʉn-yák) Turkish: tsunami (tr) Turkmen: sunami Ukrainian: цуна́мі (uk) n (cunámi) Urdu: سونامی f (sūnāmī) Uyghur: دېڭىز شاۋقۇنى (dë'ngiz shawquni) Uzbek: sunami (uz), tsunami Vietnamese: sóng thần (vi) Welsh: tsunami, tswnami m West Frisian: tsûnamy Yiddish: צונאַמי (tsunami) Zhuang: haijsiu

See also

• earthquake
• flood
• natural disaster
• seaquake
• seiche
• tidal wave
• tsunami earthquake
• waterquake

Further reading

• tsunami on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• tsunami on Wikiversity.Wikiversity
• Category:tsunami on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• Mustain, Natsumi, manitus, santimu, utinams

Cebuano

Etymology

Borrowed from English tsunami, borrowed from Japanese 津波(つなみ) (tsunami), from 津 (tsu, “harbor”) +‎ 波 (nami, “wave”).

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: tsu‧na‧mi
• IPA^(key): /tsuˈnami/ [t̪s̪ʊˈn̪a.mɪ]

Noun

tsunami

1. tsunami

Czech

Czech Wikipedia has an article on:

tsunami

Wikipedia ^cs

Alternative forms

• cunami (less common)

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 津(つ)波(なみ) (tsunami).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈt͡sunamɪ]
• Rhymes: -amɪ
• Hyphenation: tsu‧na‧mi

Noun

tsunami f (indeclinable)

1. (oceanography) tsunami
2. (figurative) tsunami (disruptive event of significant magnitude, whose effects resemble those of a tsunami)

Further reading

• “tsunami”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• “tsunami”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 津波.

Noun

tsunami

1. tsunami

Declension

Declension of tsunami

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	tsunami	tsunamien	tsunamier	tsunamierne
genitive	tsunamis	tsunamiens	tsunamiers	tsunamiernes

Dutch

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:

tsunami

Wikipedia ^nl

Etymology

From Japanese 津波.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tsuˈnaːmi/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

tsunami m (plural tsunami's, diminutive tsunamietje n)

1. tsunami

Hypernyms

• vloedgolf

Finnish

Etymology

From Japanese 津波.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtsunɑmi/, [ˈts̠unɑ̝mi]
• Rhymes: -unɑmi
• Syllabification^(key): tsu‧na‧mi
• Hyphenation^(key): tsu‧na‧mi

Noun

tsunami

1. tsunami

Declension

Inflection of tsunami (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		tsunami	tsunamit
genitive		tsunamin	tsunamien
partitive		tsunamia	tsunameja
illative		tsunamiin	tsunameihin
		singular	plural
nominative		tsunami	tsunamit
accusative	nom.	tsunami	tsunamit
	gen.	tsunamin
genitive		tsunamin	tsunamien
partitive		tsunamia	tsunameja
inessive		tsunamissa	tsunameissa
elative		tsunamista	tsunameista
illative		tsunamiin	tsunameihin
adessive		tsunamilla	tsunameilla
ablative		tsunamilta	tsunameilta
allative		tsunamille	tsunameille
essive		tsunamina	tsunameina
translative		tsunamiksi	tsunameiksi
abessive		tsunamitta	tsunameitta
instructive		—	tsunamein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of tsunami (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative tsunamini tsunamini accusative nom. tsunamini tsunamini gen. tsunamini genitive tsunamini tsunamieni partitive tsunamiani tsunamejani inessive tsunamissani tsunameissani elative tsunamistani tsunameistani illative tsunamiini tsunameihini adessive tsunamillani tsunameillani ablative tsunamiltani tsunameiltani allative tsunamilleni tsunameilleni essive tsunaminani tsunameinani translative tsunamikseni tsunameikseni abessive tsunamittani tsunameittani instructive — — comitative — tsunameineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative tsunamisi tsunamisi accusative nom. tsunamisi tsunamisi gen. tsunamisi genitive tsunamisi tsunamiesi partitive tsunamiasi tsunamejasi inessive tsunamissasi tsunameissasi elative tsunamistasi tsunameistasi illative tsunamiisi tsunameihisi adessive tsunamillasi tsunameillasi ablative tsunamiltasi tsunameiltasi allative tsunamillesi tsunameillesi essive tsunaminasi tsunameinasi translative tsunamiksesi tsunameiksesi abessive tsunamittasi tsunameittasi instructive — — comitative — tsunameinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative tsunamimme tsunamimme accusative nom. tsunamimme tsunamimme gen. tsunamimme genitive tsunamimme tsunamiemme partitive tsunamiamme tsunamejamme inessive tsunamissamme tsunameissamme elative tsunamistamme tsunameistamme illative tsunamiimme tsunameihimme adessive tsunamillamme tsunameillamme ablative tsunamiltamme tsunameiltamme allative tsunamillemme tsunameillemme essive tsunaminamme tsunameinamme translative tsunamiksemme tsunameiksemme abessive tsunamittamme tsunameittamme instructive — — comitative — tsunameinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative tsunaminne tsunaminne accusative nom. tsunaminne tsunaminne gen. tsunaminne genitive tsunaminne tsunamienne partitive tsunamianne tsunamejanne inessive tsunamissanne tsunameissanne elative tsunamistanne tsunameistanne illative tsunamiinne tsunameihinne adessive tsunamillanne tsunameillanne ablative tsunamiltanne tsunameiltanne allative tsunamillenne tsunameillenne essive tsunaminanne tsunameinanne translative tsunamiksenne tsunameiksenne abessive tsunamittanne tsunameittanne instructive — — comitative — tsunameinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative tsunaminsa tsunaminsa accusative nom. tsunaminsa tsunaminsa gen. tsunaminsa genitive tsunaminsa tsunamiensa partitive tsunamiaan tsunamiansa tsunamejaan tsunamejansa inessive tsunamissaan tsunamissansa tsunameissaan tsunameissansa elative tsunamistaan tsunamistansa tsunameistaan tsunameistansa illative tsunamiinsa tsunameihinsa adessive tsunamillaan tsunamillansa tsunameillaan tsunameillansa ablative tsunamiltaan tsunamiltansa tsunameiltaan tsunameiltansa allative tsunamilleen tsunamillensa tsunameilleen tsunameillensa essive tsunaminaan tsunaminansa tsunameinaan tsunameinansa translative tsunamikseen tsunamiksensa tsunameikseen tsunameiksensa abessive tsunamittaan tsunamittansa tsunameittaan tsunameittansa instructive — — comitative — tsunameineen tsunameinensa

Derived terms

compounds

• tsunamiaalto
• tsunamivaara
• tsunamivaroitus

Further reading

• “tsunami”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

Anagrams

• minusta, mitsuna, muistan, mustina

French

French Wikipedia has an article on:

tsunami

Wikipedia ^fr

Etymology

From Japanese 津波 / 津浪 (つなみ, tsunami, “harbour wave”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tsy.na.mi/, /tsu.na.mi/

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Paris)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

tsunami m (plural tsunamis)

1. tsunami

Derived terms

• mégatsunami
• météo-tsunami

Further reading

• “tsunami”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Indonesian

Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:

tsunami

Wikipedia ^id

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 津波(つなみ) (tsunami, “tsunami, tidal wave, tidal bore”), from 津 (tsu, “harbor”) +‎ 波 (nami, “wave”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /suˈnami/ [suˈna.mi]
• Rhymes: -ami

Noun

tsunami (plural tsunami-tsunami)

1. tsunami (large, destructive wave generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean)

   Synonym: (uncommon) semong

Further reading

• “tsunami” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 津波(つなみ) (tsunami).

Noun

tsunami m (invariable)

1. tsunami

Japanese

Romanization

tsunami

1. Rōmaji transcription of つなみ

Malay

Malay Wikipedia has an article on:

tsunami

Wikipedia ^ms

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 津波.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [(t)su.na.mi]

  • Audio (Malaysia):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -mi, -i
• Hyphenation: tsu‧na‧mi

Noun

tsunami (Jawi spelling تسونامي, plural tsunami-tsunami)

1. tsunami

Further reading

• “tsunami” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:

tsunami

Wikipedia ^no

Etymology

From Japanese 津波 (tsunami), via English tsunami.

Noun

tsunami m (definite singular tsunamien, indefinite plural tsunamier, definite plural tsunamiene)

1. a tsunami

References

• “tsunami” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “tsunami” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:

tsunami

Wikipedia ⁿⁿ

Etymology

From Japanese 津波 (tsunami), via English tsunami.

Noun

tsunami m (definite singular tsunamien, indefinite plural tsunamiar, definite plural tsunamiane)

1. a tsunami

References

• “tsunami” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

tsunami

Wikipedia ^pl

Etymology

Borrowed from English tsunami.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tsuˈna.mi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ami
• Syllabification: tsu‧na‧mi

Noun

tsunami n (indeclinable)

1. (oceanography) tsunami (very large and destructive wave, generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean, such as an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption; often a series of waves (a wave train))

   Hypernym: fala

2. (figurative) tsunami (violent event that changes or completely shatters the previous state of something)

   Synonym: tornado

3. (figurative) tsunami, flood (appearance of some emotion, behavior, or phenomenon in large quantities or in high intensity) [with genitive]

   Synonyms: natłok, tornado

4. (figurative) tsunami, flood (huge number of people gathered in some place and moving to somewhere) [with genitive]

   Hypernym: fala

Further reading

• tsunami in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• tsunami in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• tsunami in PWN's encyclopedia

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese, 津波(つなみ) (tsunami).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /tsuˈnɐ̃.mi/, /t͡ʃi.suˈnɐ̃.mi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /tsuˈnɐ̃.mi/, /t͡ʃi.suˈnɐ̃.mi/
  • (Porto Alegre) IPA^(key): /tsuˈnɐ.me/, /t͡ʃi.suˈnɐ.me/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /tsuˈnɐ.mi/

• Hyphenation: tsu‧na‧mi

Noun

tsunami m (plural tsunamis)

1. alternative spelling of tsunâmi

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese, 津波(つなみ) (tsunami).

Noun

tsunami m (plural tsunamiuri)

1. tsunami