Tempestuous means stormy, in weather or in feeling. A tempestuous relationship, tempestuous seas, a tempestuous meeting.
The figurative use has all but taken over, and a tempestuous relationship is one of rows and reconciliations rather than one that is simply unhappy. The tempest behind it is a violent storm.
1adjectivetempestuousStormy, in weather or in feeling.
“The little ship was tossed about on a tempestuous sea for three days.”
tempestuous is a quality.
Old French tempeste comes from Latin tempestas, a storm or season, from tempus, time.
Proto-Indo-European
*temh₁-
Middle English
tempestious
English, today
tempestuous
Built from
From Middle English tempestious. From Late Middle English tempestious, tempestous, tempestuous (“stormy, turbulent, tempestuous”), from Anglo-Norman tempestous, and Old French tempesteus, tempestos, tempestous, tempestuose (modern French tempétueux), and directly from its etymon Latin tempestuōsus (“stormy, turbulent, tempestuous; impetuous”), from tempestās, tempestūs (“point or period of time; season; weather, specifically bad weather; storm, tempest”) (from tempus (“period of time; (rare) weather”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European temh₁- (“to cut”) or ten- (“to extend, stretch”)) + -ōsus. The English word is equivalent to tempest + -uous (a variant of -ous).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA