sirocco

(sə räkō)

noun pl. siroccos

  1. a hot, steady, oppressive wind blowing from the Libyan deserts across the Mediterranean into S Europe, often bringing dust and sometimes accompanied by rain
  2. any hot, oppressive wind, esp. one blowing toward a center of low barometric pressure

Origin: It < Ar sharq, the east < sharaqa, to rise (of the sun)

See sirocco in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun pl. si·roc·cos also sci·roc·cos
  1. A hot humid south or southeast wind of southern Italy, Sicily, and the Mediterranean islands, originating in the Sahara Desert as a dry dusty wind but becoming moist as it passes over the Mediterranean.
  2. A hot or warm southerly wind, especially one moving toward a low barometric pressure center.

Origin:

Origin: Italian

Origin: , from Arabic šarq, east; see śrq in Semitic roots

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