Turmoil & ?

Today I read yet another NY Times article on the turmoil in the Mideast. I knew that "turmoil" means "profound confusion" and "chaos." Then suddenly I found myself wondering: "What's the word's etymology?"

Given my habit of guessing whether or not a word is a doublet, I took a long hard look at "turmoil." I thought perhaps it shared its origin with "turbulent," whose definition-- "disorderly, tumultuous, runruly"--isn't that far from the sense of "turmoil."

Another possibiity would be "turbid," which includes the notion of something being "stirred up."

Unfortunately, The American Heritage Dictionary (Fourth Edition) took the position that the etymology of "turmoil" is "unknown." Etymonline.com uses "perhaps" in its speculative etymology, which suggests that the word might be an anglicized version of the French "tremouille" meaning "mill hopper," a device that is in constant motion in a mill. This etymology might be valid, but that word "perhaps" doesn't make me confident.

Too bad because "turbid" traces back tothe Latin "turbidus," which is the source of "trouble" and "turbulence." (The"ur" sound--found in "turbid" became the "ru" sound in "trouble" by metathesis, the reversal of letters and sounds. The "o" in "trouble" may mask the connection, but no need to start a rant about English spelling not matching English pronunciation.)

What matters here is that we can't etymologically link "turmoil" to "turbulence" or "trouble." Sometimes etymology disappoints.