Turbulence

How to spell turbulence

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce turbulence

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does turbulence mean?

1. nounViolent or irregular movement of air or water, or a state of confusion and unrest.

Turbulence in a sentence

• The pilot warned passengers about turbulence over the mountains.

• Sudden turbulence rattled the cabin and spilled the coffee.

Where does turbulence come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin turbulentia, meaning 'commotion' or 'disorder', which was built on the adjective turbulentus, 'full of unrest or agitation'. At the heart of it sits the Latin noun turba, which literally meant 'a crowd' or 'a throng', and by extension the confusion and jostling that a crowd creates. Latin scholars have long suspected that turba itself was borrowed from a Greek word for a disorderly crowd or rout. English took the term in through French in the fifteenth century, first describing unruly behaviour in people before it settled into its modern uses for restless air, water, and emotion. The same turba root still hums inside everyday relatives such as 'disturb', 'trouble', and 'perturb', all of which carry that original idea of a peaceful state being stirred up. The tricky part for spellers is the soft middle: that unstressed '-ul-' and the '-ence' ending (not '-ance') both rely on memory rather than sound.

How the word is built

• turb- (from Latin turba: a crowd, disturbance)
• -ul- (diminutive/adjectival link)
• -ence (noun-forming suffix)