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/

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

a bent pipe or tube with one end lower than the other

• Bulgarian: сифон m (sifon)
• 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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: siofón m
• Italian: sifone m
• Japanese: サイフォン (saifon), 水管 (すいかん, suikan)
• Korean: 사이폰 (saipon)
• Persian: سیفون (fa) (sifon)
• Portuguese: sifão (pt) m
• Russian: сифо́н (ru) m (sifón)
• Spanish: sifón m
• Thai: กาลักน้ำ (th) (gaa-lák-náam)

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 in small amounts; to embezzle.

Translations

transfer by means of a siphon

• Czech: vysát pf, vycucnout pf
• Finnish: lappaa (fi)
• French: siphonner (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: siofón
• Spanish: sifonear

steal or skim off in small amounts

• Czech: vysát pf, vycucnout
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• French: siphonner (fr)

See also

• seep
• sip

References

• Template:R:ine:Roberts

Anagrams

• Pinhos, Pishon

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French

Etymology

Via (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin sipho from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek σίφων (síphōn, “pipe, tube”), but 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.