To most fans, the term "tifo" is relatively innocuous. It's a word that has come to mean "a big display," something you'll most likely see at a soccer game, but that we've recently started to see at other sporting events. In Seattle, especially, it has almost always come to be understood as something Emerald City Supporters do (although other supporter groups have also dabbled in such displays).
To be sure, the adherence to this definition varies and there's no universal truth.
But among supporters, the term has a bit of a deeper meaning. First off, tifo -- short for tifosi, which literally means "fan" in Italian -- can be any kind of fan-made display.