monsoon

monsoon

English

Etymology

From Portuguese monção and Dutch moesson, from Arabic مَوْسِم‎ (mawsim, “season”), from وَسَمَ‎ (wasama, “to mark, to brand”). [1][2]

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /mɒnˈsuːn/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /mɑnˈsuːn/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -uːn

Noun

monsoon (plural monsoons)

1. Any of a number of winds associated with regions where most rain falls during a particular season.
2. Tropical rainy season when the rain lasts for several months with few interruptions.
   • 2013 June 29, “High and wet”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 28:

     Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. The early, intense onset of the monsoon on June 14th swelled rivers, washing away roads, bridges, hotels and even whole villages. Rock-filled torrents smashed vehicles and homes, burying victims under rubble and sludge.

3. The rains themselves.
4. Entire meteorological systems with such characteristics.

Derived terms

• monsoon season

Translations

wind

Arabic: الرِّيَاح المَوْسِمُيَّة‎ (ar-riyāḥ al-mawsimuyya) Bulgarian: мусон m (muson) Catalan: monsó (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 季風／季风 (zh) (jìfēng) Czech: monzun (cs) m Dutch: moesson (nl) c Finnish: monsuuni (fi), monsuunituuli French: mousson (fr) f German: Monsun (de) m, Monsunwind m Hindi: मानसून (hi) m (mānsūn) Hungarian: monszun (hu) Japanese: モンスーン (ja) (monsūn) Korean: 몬순 (ko) (monsun) Lithuanian: musonas m Norwegian: Bokmål: monsun m Nynorsk: monsun m Polish: monsun (pl) m Portuguese: monção (pt) f Russian: муссо́н (ru) m (mussón) Spanish: monzón m Swedish: monsun (sv) c Tagalog: balaklaot Turkish: muson (tr) Vietnamese: gió mùa (vi)

tropical rainy season — See also translations at monsoon season

Assamese: মৌচুমী (mousumi) Bulgarian: мусон (muson) Catalan: monsó (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 雨季 (zh) (yǔjì) Czech: monzun (cs) m Dutch: moesson (nl) m Esperanto: musono Finnish: sadekausi (fi) French: mousson (fr) f German: Monsun (de) m, Monsunzeit m Gujarati: ચોમાસું (comāsũ) Hiligaynon: tingúlan Hindi: मानसून (hi) m (mānsūn), चौमासा (hi) m (caumāsā) Hungarian: monszun (hu) Iban: lamias Ilocano: nepnep Indonesian: muson (id) Interlingua: monson Irish: monsún m Korean: 장마 (ko) (jangma) Persian: مونسون‎ (monsun), برسات‎ (barsât) Polish: monsun (pl) Portuguese: monção (pt) f Russian: муссо́н (ru) m (mussón) Santali: ᱡᱟᱹᱯᱩᱫ ᱨᱤᱛᱩ (jăput’ ritu) Sindhi: चौमासो‎ (caumāsō) Swedish: monsunperiod c Tagalog: balaklaot, musim Tamil: பருவப்பெயர்ச்சிக் காற்று (paruvappeyarccik kāṟṟu), பருவமழை (ta) (paruvamaḻai) Telugu: ఋతుపవనాలు (r̥tupavanālu), వర్షాకాలము (te) (varṣākālamu) Turkish: muson (tr) Ukrainian: мусон (muson) Vietnamese: mùa mưa

rain

Arabic: الأمْطَار المَوْسِمِيَّة‎ Finnish: monsuunisade German: Monsunregen m Hungarian: monszun (hu) Portuguese: monção (pt) f Turkish: muson yağmuru

meteorological system

Czech: monzun (cs) m Finnish: monsuuni-ilmasto German: Monsun (de) m Hungarian: monszun (hu) Portuguese: monção (pt) f Turkish: muson (tr)

References

1. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. 2000 Houghton Mifflin
2. A Dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English Platts.