siphon

siphon

See also: Siphon

English

Alternative forms

• syphon

Etymology

From Middle French siphon, from Old French sifon, from Latin sipho, from Ancient Greek σίφων (síphōn, “pipe, tube”), of uncertain origin; possibly related to Latin tibia (“pipe, flute of bone”), reflecting a hypothetical late Proto-Indo-European *twi-, *twibʰ- (“hollow”) root, but the irregular forms suggest a non-Indo-European loan (i.e. substrate) source.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aɪfən
• IPA^(key): /ˈsaɪfən/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

siphon (plural siphons)

1. A bent pipe or tube with one end lower than the other, in which hydrostatic pressure exerted due to the force of gravity moves liquid from one reservoir to another.
2. A soda siphon.
3. (biology) A tubelike organ found in animals or elongated cell found in plants.

Derived terms

• siphonic

Translations

bent pipe or tube with one end lower than the other

Bulgarian: сифон m (sifon) Catalan: sifó m Chinese: Mandarin: 水管 (zh) (shuǐguǎn), 虹吸管 (zh) (hóngxīguǎn), 虹吸 (zh) (hóngxī) Czech: sifon (cs) m Dutch: hevel (nl) Finnish: lappo (fi) French: siphon (fr) m German: Heber (de) m Hebrew: גישתה‎ f (gishtá), סיפון‎ (he) m (sifón) Irish: siofón m Italian: sifone (it) m Japanese: サイフォン (saifon), 水管 (ja) (すいかん, suikan) Korean: 사이폰 (saipon) Persian: سیفون‎ (fa) (sifon) Polish: lewar (pl) m, syfon (pl) m Portuguese: sifão (pt) m Russian: сифо́н (ru) m (sifón) Spanish: sifón (es) m Swedish: sifon (sv) c, hävert (sv) c Thai: กาลักน้ำ (th) (gaa-lák-náam)

tubelike organ found in animals or elongated cell found in plants

Polish: syfon (pl) m

Verb

siphon (third-person singular simple present siphons, present participle siphoning, simple past and past participle siphoned)

1. (transitive) To transfer (liquid) by means of a siphon.

   He used a rubber tube to siphon petrol from the car's fuel tank.

2. (transitive, figurative) To steal or skim off money in small amounts; to embezzle.

Translations

transfer by means of a siphon

Bulgarian: преливам (bg) (prelivam) Czech: vysát pf, vycucnout pf Finnish: lappaa (fi) French: siphonner (fr) Irish: siofón Spanish: sifonear

steal or skim off in small amounts

Czech: vysát pf, vycucnout French: siphonner (fr)

See also

• seep
• sip

References

• Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN

Anagrams

• Pinhos, Pishon

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French

Etymology

From Latin sīphō from Ancient Greek σίφων (síphōn, “pipe, tube”), of unknown ultimate origin.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

siphon m (plural siphons)

1. siphon

Derived terms

• siphonner

Further reading

• “siphon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.