monsoon

IPA/ˌmɒnˈsuːn/
KK[mɑnsˈun]IPA/ˌmɑːnˈsuːn/

monsoon — noun

  • monsoonsingular
  • monsoonsplural

1. The period each year when very heavy rain falls across South and Southeast Asia,

1.nounB1
Definition

The period each year when very heavy rain falls across South and Southeast Asia, normally lasting several weeks during the summer.

Example

Every year during the monsoon, the streets of Mumbai flood with rainwater.

Gita’s family depends on the monsoon rains to grow rice for the whole year.

collocation: monsoon rains

Common collocations
  • monsoon season
  • monsoon rains
  • heavy monsoon
  • the monsoon arrives
  • the monsoon begins
Synonyms
  • rainy season

    more general term used for any region with a distinct wet period; 'monsoon' is specific to Asia

  • wet season

    broader term used in tropical climates worldwide; lacks the historical and cultural associations of 'monsoon'

Antonyms
  • dry season

    the part of the year when little or no rain falls in a monsoon climate

Usage Note

In everyday speech, 'monsoon' sometimes refers to any period of very heavy rain, but the strict meaning is tied to the seasonal weather pattern of South and Southeast Asia. The article 'the' is almost always used: 'the monsoon.'

2. A wind pattern over South Asia that changes direction twice a year: in summer it

2.nounB2
Definition

A wind pattern over South Asia that changes direction twice a year: in summer it arrives from the southwest carrying moisture and heavy rain, while in winter it comes from the northeast with dry air.

Example

The southwest monsoon carries moist air from the Indian Ocean toward the coast of India.

collocation: southwest monsoon

Ancient sailors used the monsoon winds to guide their trading ships across the Indian Ocean.

collocation: monsoon winds

Common collocations
  • monsoon winds
  • southwest monsoon
  • winter monsoon
  • summer monsoon
  • monsoon system
Synonyms
  • trade wind

    similar concept of a reliable directional wind, but trade winds are steady year-round and occur globally, not reversing seasonally like a monsoon

Usage Note

This sense refers to the wind system itself rather than the rainfall. Meteorologists distinguish between the 'summer monsoon' (southwest, wet) and 'winter monsoon' (northeast, dry).

Word family

  • monsoonal
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

"Monsoon" is distinct from "rainy season" and "wet season," which are generic terms for any region with a marked wet period — Central America has a rainy season, but it does not have a monsoon. "Monsoon" implies a specific wind reversal mechanism. "Downpour" and "storm" describe individual rain events, not a multi-week climatic phase. A monsoon can produce downpours, but calling a single heavy shower "a monsoon" is informal exaggeration. In meteorological writing, use "monsoon" only for the seasonal wind system of South and Southeast Asia; in casual speech it often means "very heavy, prolonged rain," though this usage is imprecise.

rainy seasonwet seasondownpour ↗storm ↗

Common collocations

Phrases

  • the monsoon arrives
  • the monsoon season
  • the monsoon rains

Prepositions

  • before + the monsoon
  • during + the monsoon
  • after + the monsoon
  • in + the monsoon

Etymology

ArabicPortugueseEnglish

Monsoon entered English through Portuguese 'monção' during the age of exploration, but the word traces further back to Arabic 'mawsim' (مَوْسِم), meaning 'season, appropriate time.' Arab sailors used 'mawsim' for the seasonal winds that reliably reversed direction and made long-distance trade across the Indian Ocean possible. The Portuguese adopted it during their 16th-century voyages to India, and from there it spread into other European languages, eventually arriving in English around the 1580s.