harmattan
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Twi Akan haramata or a related word (whence also Spanish harmatán). The ultimate origin is supposed by some to be an Arabic word, but which one is uncertain; حَرَام (ḥarām, “accursed thing”) has been suggested.[1]
Pronunciation
[edit]- (UK) IPA(key): /ˌhɑːməˈtæn/, /ˌhɑːˈmætən/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˌhɑɹməˈtæn/, /ˌhɑɹməˈtɑn/, /ˌhɑɹˈmætən/
Noun
[edit]harmattan (plural harmattans)
- A dry and dusty wind which blows from the Sahara over the Atlantic coast of West Africa in December, January and February, being a hot wind in some areas and a cold wind in others.
- 1900, Joshua Slocum, Sailing Alone Around the World:
- Storm-clouds stretched their arms across the sky; from the east, to all appearances, might come a fierce harmattan, or from the south might come the fierce hurricane.
- 1958, Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, New York: Astor-Honor, published 1959, page 1:
- That was many years ago, twenty years or more, and during this time Okonkwo's fame had grown like a bush-fire in the harmattan.
- A season which spans the period in which the harmattan wind blows.
References
[edit]- Concise Oxford Dictionary, 5th Edition, 1975 revision
- “harmattan”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- “harmattan”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
- “harmattan”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- Alexander Knox, in The Climate of the Continent of Africa, explains that "the Harmattan [...] is a hot wind in some localities and a cold wind in others, according to circumstances." This is why some sources, both old and modern, call it a hot wind, while others call it a cold one.
- ^ “harmattan”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
French
[edit]Noun
[edit]harmattan m (plural harmattans)
Further reading
[edit]- “harmattan”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian
[edit]Noun
[edit]harmattan m (invariable)
Categories:
- English terms derived from Akan
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- en:Wind
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- Italian lemmas
- Italian nouns
- Italian indeclinable nouns
- Italian countable nouns
- Italian masculine nouns
- it:Wind