tempest

[tem-pist] /ˈtɛm pɪst/
noun
1.
a violent windstorm, especially one with rain, hail, or snow.
2.
a violent commotion, disturbance, or tumult.
verb (used with object)
3.
to affect by or as by a tempest; disturb violently.
Idioms
4.
tempest in a teacup. teacup (def 3).
Origin
1200-50; Middle English tempeste < Old French < Vulgar Latin *tempesta, for Latin tempestās season, weather, storm, equivalent to tempes- (variant stem of tempus time) + -tās -ty2

Tempest, The

noun
1.
a comedy (1611) by Shakespeare.
Examples from the web for tempest
  • The unaccustomed feels the sensation of being in a panic, in a tempest, in a cyclone.
  • The tempest suddenly acquired a new political dimension unforeseen by shakespeare.
British Dictionary definitions for tempest

tempest

/ˈtɛmpɪst/
noun
1.
(mainly literary) a violent wind or storm
2.
a violent commotion, uproar, or disturbance
verb
3.
(transitive) (poetic) to agitate or disturb violently
Word Origin
C13: from Old French tempeste, from Latin tempestās storm, from tempus time
Word Origin and History for tempest
n.

"violent storm," mid-13c., from Old French tempeste (11c.), from Vulgar Latin *tempesta, from Latin tempestas (genitive tempestatis) "storm, weather, season," also "commotion, disturbance," related to tempus "time, season" (see temporal). Sense evolution is from "period of time" to "period of weather," to "bad weather" to "storm." Words for "weather" were originally words for "time" in languages from Russia to Brittany. Figurative sense of "violent commotion" is recorded from early 14c.