Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Occurring annually. Used of the prevailing northerly summer winds of the Mediterranean.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Recurring every year; occurring at stated times of the year; periodical.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Periodical; annual; -- applied to winds which annually blow from the north over the Mediterranean, esp. the eastern part, for an irregular period during July and August.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Pertaining to a dry north
wind which blows in the eastern Mediterranean. - noun A dry north
wind which blows in the eastern Mediterranean.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The vicinity of sea and lake had advantages also in the way of health: for in the summer the etesian winds set in from the north, and the lake, instead of stagnating, was kept full and sweet by the rise of the
A Grammar of Septuagint Greek 1856-1924 1905
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The etesian winds made it impossible to bring up reënforcements, and Cæsar's force was very small.
A Friend of Caesar A Tale of the Fall of the Roman Republic. Time, 50-47 B.C. William Stearns Davis 1903
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The etesian winds, too, had set in, which made it difficult for his heavy vessels to work out of the harbor.
Caesar: a Sketch James Anthony Froude 1856
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"caes. civ.3.107": [3.107] Having observed this, he ordered other legions to be brought to him from Asia, which he had made up out of Pompey's soldiers; for he was himself detained against his will, by the etesian winds, which are totally unfavorable to persons on a voyage from Alexandria.
fbharjo commented on the word etesian
etesian a periodic, seasonal word
January 17, 2007
reesetee commented on the word etesian
Etymology according to A.W.A.D.: "The word refers to the annual summer winds of the Mediterranean. It's derived from Latin etesius, from Greek etesios, from etos (year). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wet- (year) that is also the source of such words as veteran, veal (in the sense of yearling), and veterinary (relating to the beasts of burden, perhaps alluding to old cattle), inveterate, wether, and bellwether."
January 8, 2009
qms commented on the word etesian
To sail waters peloponnesian
Attend to the winds of the season,
And haste to adjust
To Meltemi's gust
And go with the flow that's etesian.
January 2, 2017