English Explanatory Dictionary

monsoon

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  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.
  3. The rains themselves.
  4. Entire meteorological systems with such characteristics.
  5. Any heavy rainstorm.

Pronunciation

/mɒnˈsuːn/ /mɑnˈsuːn/ en-us-monsoon.ogg /ˈmɔn.sun/ /ˈmɑn.sun/

Word forms

monsoon monsoons

Etymology

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

Derived words

antimonsoon east monsoon intermonsoon intermonsoonal intramonsoon intramonsoonal monsoonal monsoonally monsoon bucket monsoon forest monsoonish monsoonless monsoonlike monsoon rainforest monsoon season monsoony northeast monsoon northwest monsoon palaeomonsoon postmonsoon postmonsoonal premonsoon premonsoonal southeast monsoon southwest monsoon west monsoon

Translations

Arabic: الأمْطَار المَوْسِمِيَّة Finnish: monsuunisade French: mousson German: Monsunregen Hungarian: monszun Portuguese: monção Tamil: பருவமழை Turkish: muson yağmuru
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