sirocco
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Italian scirocco (“south-east wind”).
Pronunciation
Noun
sirocco (plural siroccos)
- A hot and often strong southerly to southeasterly wind on the Mediterranean that originates in the Sahara and adjacent North African regions.
- Synonym: ghibli (Libya)
- 1888, Friedrich Nietzsche, The Antichrist 1:
- This tolerance and largeur of the heart that ‘forgives’ everything because it ‘understands’ everything, is sirocco for us.
- 1814, George Gordon, Corsair, i:14:
- But come, the board is spread; our silver lamp / Is trimm’d, and heeds not the sirocco’s damp.
- (colloquial) A draft of hot air from an artificial source of heat.
- 2003, Erik Larson, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, Random House, →ISBN, page 113:
- In the hearth at the north wall a large fire cracked and lisped, flushing the room with a dry sirocco that caused frozen skin to tingle.
Translations
wind
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References
- Universal Dictionary of the English Language, volume 4, 1896, page 4286
Further reading
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian scirocco.
Pronunciation
Noun
sirocco m (plural sirocco's)
- sirocco (wind on the Mediterranean originating from North Africa)
- (rare, dated) kiln
- Synonym: droogoven
French
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian scirocco.
Pronunciation
Noun
sirocco m (plural siroccos)
- (literal and figurative) sirocco
- 1976, Serge Gainsbourg (lyrics and music), “Chez Max coiffeur pour hommes”, in L’homme à tête de chou:
- Puis sous le sirocco du séchoir / Dans mes cheveux / La petite garce laisse choir : / "Je veux"
- Then under the sirocco of the dryer / Into my hair / The little lass let drop / "I want "
Further reading
- “sirocco”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.