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”), with the irregular forms suggesting a non-Indo-European loan source, perhaps of the shape *twi-, *twibh.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (Southern England)

  (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. (zoology) A tubelike organ found in animals or elongated cell found in plants.

Derived terms

• siphon condenser
• siphon cup
• siphonic
• siphoniferous
• siphon recorder
• thermic siphon
• thermosiphon

 

Translations

bent pipe or tube with one end lower than the other

• Arabic: سِيفُون m (sīfūn)

  Hijazi Arabic: سَيْفون m (sayfūn)

• Bulgarian: сифон m (sifon)
• Catalan: sifó (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 水管 (zh) (shuǐguǎn), 虹吸管 (zh) (hóngxīguǎn), 虹吸 (zh) (hóngxī)

• Czech: násoska f
• Dutch: hevel (nl)
• Finnish: lappo (fi)
• French: siphon (fr) m
• German: Heber (de) m
• Hebrew: גישתה f (gishtá), סיפון (he) m (sifón)
• Hungarian: szívócső (hu), szifon (hu), leszívócső, szivornya (hu), (for wine) hébér (hu), lopó (hu)
• 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

• Catalan: sifó (ca) m
• 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, often with "off") To steal or skim off money in small amounts; to embezzle.

Derived terms

• siphon the python

 

Translations

transfer by means of a siphon

• Bulgarian: преливам (bg) (prelivam)
• Czech: vysát pf, vycucnout pf
• Finnish: lappaa (fi)
• French: siphonner (fr)
• Hungarian: átvezet (hu), elvezet (hu), kiszív (hu), leszív (hu), elvon (hu)
• Irish: siofón
• Spanish: sifonear

steal or skim off in small amounts

• Czech: vysát pf, vycucnout
• French: siphonner (fr)
• German: unterschlagen (de), absahnen (de)
• Hungarian: elszipkáz (hu), megcsapol (hu)

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

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.