Monsoon definition |Dictionary.com

monsoon

7 dictionary results for: Monsoon

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

mon·soon

[mon-soon] Pronunciation Key

–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: 1575–85; < D monssoen (now obs.) < Pg monção, earlier moução < Ar mawsim season

]

—Related forms

mon·soon·al, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

mon·soon (mŏn-sōōn') Pronunciation Key
n.

A wind system that influences large climatic regions and reverses direction seasonally.
1. A wind from the southwest or south that brings heavy rainfall to southern Asia in the summer.
2. The rain that accompanies this wind.

[Obsolete Dutch monssoen, from Portuguese monção, from Arabic mawsim, season, from wasama, to mark; see wsm in Semitic roots.]

mon·soon'al adj.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
monsoon

"trade wind of the Indian Ocean," 1584, from Du. monssoen, from Port. monçao, from Ar. mawsim "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 "the rainy season" (1747).

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

monsoon
noun
1.	a seasonal wind in southern Asia; blows from the southwest (bringing rain) in summer and from the northeast in winter
2.	rainy season in southern Asia when the southwestern monsoon blows, bringing heavy rains
3.	any wind that changes direction with the seasons

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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

monsoon (mŏn-s

n') Pronunciation Key

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.
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.

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American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
monsoon

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.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Monsoon

Mon*soon"\, n. [Malay m[=u]sim, fr. Ar. mausim a time, season: cf. F. monson, mousson, Sr. monzon, Pg. mon[,c][~a]o, It. monsone.] A wind blowing part of the year from one direction, alternating with a wind from the opposite direction; -- a term applied particularly to periodical winds of the Indian Ocean, which blow from the southwest from the latter part of May to the middle of September, and from the northeast from about the middle of October to the middle of December.

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