monsoon

[mon-soon] /mɒnˈsun/
noun
1.
the seasonal wind of the Indian Ocean and southern Asia, blowing from the southwest in summer and from the northeast in winter.
2.
(in India and nearby lands) the season during which the southwest monsoon blows, commonly marked by heavy rains; rainy season.
3.
any wind that changes directions with the seasons.
4.
any persistent wind established between water and adjoining land.
Origin of monsoon
1575-85; < Dutch monssoen (now obsolete) < Portuguese monção, earlier moução < Arabic mawsim season
Related forms
monsoonal, adjective
Examples from the web for monsoon
  • It grows enough food to feed itself even when the monsoon disappoints.
  • The drained ponds fill back up when the monsoon rains arrive.
  • With each new incident of record monsoon floods, fires and earthquakes, more tremors shake the global economy.
  • And sunlight is weak during the three-month monsoon season.
  • The trigger for this year's drought was last year's scanty monsoon.
  • monsoon seasons can turn a year on the road into a year in the mud, so plan carefully.
  • The spray-on waterproof leggings are engineered to withstand the monsoon season and breathe when temperatures rise.
  • The floods began last week in the northwest with abnormally heavy monsoon rains.
  • It corresponds with a weaker south-west monsoon and a longer dry season.
  • They said they were following orders to clear illegally built shanties ahead of the monsoon season.
British Dictionary definitions for monsoon

monsoon

/mɒnˈsuːn/
noun
1.
a seasonal wind of S Asia that blows from the southwest in summer, bringing heavy rains, and from the northeast in winter
2.
the rainy season when the SW monsoon blows, from about April to October
3.
any wind that changes direction with the seasons
Derived Forms
monsoonal, adjective
Word Origin
C16: from obsolete Dutch monssoen, from Portuguese monção, from Arabic mawsim season
Word Origin and History for monsoon
n.

1580s, "trade wind of the Indian Ocean," from Dutch monssoen, from Portuguese monçao, from Arabic mawsim "time of year, appropriate season" (for a voyage, pilgrimage, etc.), from wasama "he marked." When it blows from the southwest (April through October) it brings heavy rain, hence "heavy episode of rainfall during the rainy season" (1747).

monsoon in Science
monsoon
  (mŏn-sn')   

  1. A system of winds that influences the climate of a large area and that reverses direction with the seasons. Monsoons are caused primarily by the much greater annual variation in temperature over large areas of land than over large areas of adjacent ocean water. This variation causes an excess of atmospheric pressure over the continents in the winter, and a deficit in the summer. The disparity causes strong winds to blow between the ocean and the land, bringing heavy seasonal rainfall.

  2. In southern Asia, a wind that is part of such a system and that blows from the southwest in the summer and usually brings heavy rains.


monsoon in Culture

monsoon definition


A wind system that affects large climatic regions and reverses direction seasonally.

Note: The Asiatic monsoon brings heavy rains to Southeast Asia in spring and summer.