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monsoonal

[mon-soon]

Origin

noun

the seasonal wind of the Indian Ocean and southern Asia, blowing from the southwest in summer and from the northeast in winter.

(in India and nearby lands) the season during which the southwest monsoon blows, commonly marked by heavy rains; rainy season.

any wind that changes directions with the seasons.

any persistent wind established between water and adjoining land.

Origin:
1575–85; < Dutch monssoen (now obsolete) < Portuguese monção, earlier moução < Arabic mawsim season

Related forms

mon·soon·al, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Monsoonal is always a great word to know.

So is gobo. Does it mean:

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

monsoon (mɒnˈsuːn)

—n
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

[C16: from obsolete Dutch monssoen, from Portuguese monção, from Arabic mawsim season]

mon'soonal

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

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).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage

Science Dictionary

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.

American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

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.

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