The Online Tornado FAQ (by Roger Edwards, SPC)

THE BASICS ABOUT TORNADOES. What is a tornado? According to the Glossary of Meteorology (AMS 2000), a tornado is “a violently rotating column of air, pendant from a cumuliform cloud or underneath a cumuliform cloud, and often (but not always) visible as a funnel cloud.” The wording of other definitions may vary, but one constant is this: a tornado must must be in contact with the ground and a …

https://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/