Do you speak a little Italian when you say 'sirocco'?

'Sirocco' is a word borrowed from Italian 'scirocco'. The word entered the English language some time around 1617.

sirocco [noun] [1617]

• a hot dust-laden wind from the Libyan deserts that blows on the northern Mediterranean coast chiefly in Italy, Malta, a...
• a warm moist oppressive southeast wind in the same regions
• a hot or warm wind of cyclonic origin from an arid or heated region

Meaning: a hot dust-laden wind from the Libyan deserts that blows on the northern Mediterranean coast chiefly in Italy; Malta; and Sicily; a warm moist oppressive southeast wind in the same regions; a hot or warm wind of cyclonic origin from an arid or heated region.

Etymology: Italian scirocco; sirocco; alteration of Old Italian scilocco; from Arabic dialect (Maghreb) sloq southeast wind; alteration of Arabic shaluq; shuluq.

Topics: Weather.

Origin: From Arabic to English.

note: The word siricco refers to Sirocco a hot dry dusty wind that blows from North Africa across the Mediterranean Sea. Its etymology traces back to the Italian word scirocco which itself derives from the Arabic word šarq meaning east. Therefore the name ultimately refers to the wind blowing from the east.

See 'sirocco' on the Loan Words Map

See more loan words from Italian.

See more loan words from 1600s.