huracán

hurricane

noun oo-rah-KAHN Rare

Origin: From Taíno hurakán, the god of wind, entering Spanish via Caribbean contact in the 16th century.

Usage Note

Huracán entered Spanish from the Taíno word for a destructive wind god, making it one of the few indigenous Caribbean words absorbed directly into the language. It refers specifically to a tropical cyclone in the Atlantic or eastern Pacific; equivalent storms in other regions are called tifón (typhoon) in the western Pacific. The plural is regular: huracanes.

Examples

"El huracán destruyó varias casas en la costa."

Natural Translation

The hurricane destroyed several houses on the coast.

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