GC: n
S: http://www.usgs.gov/faq/categories/9755/3141 (last access: 4 August 2015); https://sciencebasedlife.wordpress.com/2011/06/01/tidal-waves-and-tsunamis-are-not-the-same-thing/ (last access: 4 August 2015).
N: 1. tidal (adj): 1807, a hybrid formation from tide (n.) + Latin-derived suffix -al.
wave (n): “moving billow of water,” 1520s, alteration (by influence of wave (v.)) of Middle English waw, which is from Old English wagian “to move to and fro”. The usual Old English word for “moving billow of water” was yð.
A tidal wave (1819) properly is high water caused by movements of the tides; erroneous use for “tsunami, great ocean wave caused by an earthquake, etc.” is recorded from 1868.
2. An alteration in the level of the sea from east to west caused by the combined attraction of the Sun and Moon.
3. An abrupt rise of tidal water (caused by atmospheric activities) moving rapidly inland from the mouth of an estuary. (UN DHA)
4. The word tsunami is composed of the Japanese words “tsu” (which means harbor) and “nami” (which means wave). The term “tidal wave” was often erroneously used to describe the same phenomenon, particularly because of the sudden tide-like retreat of water from the coast as the tsunami wave closed the shore. But tsunami waves are not the same as astronomical tide waves, nor are they caused by the normal gravitational influences of the moon, sun, and the planets. Thus, the Japanese word tsunami or “harbor wave” is a more inclusive term and has been internationally adopted because it covers all forms of impulse wave generation.
S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=tidal&searchmode=none; http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=wave (last access: 5 September 2014). 2. TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 5 September 2014). 3. RWP – http://www.who.int/hac/about/reliefweb-aug2008.pdf (last access: 4 August 2015) (p. 53). 4. NHHC – http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq130-1.htm (last access: 18 November 2013).
SYN: seismic sea wave
S: EncBrit – http://global.britannica.com/science/tsunami (last access: 4 August 2015); GDT (last access: 5 September 2014).
