French word

tsunami

Pronunciation

IPA/tsynami/

Meaning

  • masculine nountsunami

Example

Il y a eu un tsunami hier.

There was a tsunami yesterday.

Illustration for tsunami (tsunami)

More examples

L'alerte au tsunami couvre plusieurs communes côtières.

The tsunami warning covers several coastal municipalities.

Core concept

A chain of powerful sea waves surges toward a coastline after the ocean floor shifts suddenly.

Common phrases

  • alerte au tsunami

    tsunami warning

  • risque de tsunami

    tsunami risk

Similar words

vague: A single visible wave or surface swell along the coast.

Definition in French

Un tsunami est une succession de vagues anormalement élevées causée par un mouvement brusque du plancher océanique, susceptible d'entraîner des inondations sur les littoraux.

Word origin

The French noun tsunami comes from Japanese tsunami, combining tsu, 'harbor', and nami, 'wave'.

Usage tips

  • Tsunami is masculine in French, so the usual form is un tsunami and the plural is des tsunamis.

Word lists with this word