Tēm'pest1, n.
n. [O. Fr. tempeste, N. Fr. tempête, Pr. tempesta, Sp. tempestad, It. tempesta, tempestà, from Lat. tempestas, a portion of time, a season, weather, storm, from tempus, time.] 1. An extensive current of wind, rushing with great velocity and violence, and commonly attended with rain, hail, or snow; a storm of extreme violence. We, caught in a fiery tempest, shall be hurled, Each on his rock transfixed. Milton. 2. Hence, any violent tumult or commotion; as, a popular or political tempest; the tempest of war; a tempest of the passions. ☞— Tempest is sometimes used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, tempest-beaten, tempest-loving, tempest-tossed, tempest-winged, and the like. Syn.—Storm; agitation; perturbation. See STORM.