Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word 台風. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word 台風, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say 台風 in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word 台風 you have here. The definition of the word 台風 will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of台風, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
This term is somewhat of a false friend of typhoon. The term タイフーン(taifūn) instead refers to typhoons (with wind speed over 118 km/h).
References
^ Tai Whan Kim, The Portuguese Element in Japanese: A Critical Survey (1976): 16. taifū 'typhoon' Probably in view of semantic association Dalgado linked the Japanese taifū with Portuguese tufão. He is uncertain as to the immediate source of the Japanese form. There also exists in Japanese another form taifūn, not cited by Dalgado. The history of taifū and taifūn is as interesting and intricate as Portuguese tufão and English typhoon, which underlies Japanese taifūn.