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Sirocco

Weather
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A hot, dusty wind that blows northward from the Sahara toward the Mediterranean.

Detailed Definition
The sirocco is a warm wind that originates over the Sahara and crosses the Mediterranean, often carrying dust, heat, and humidity into southern Europe. Its arrival can tint the sky, dull visibility, and leave surfaces coated with fine sand. Poets may use the sirocco to bring distant deserts into coastal cities, suggesting fever, migration, unrest, or a breath from another continent.
Example
Example in poetry:
“The sirocco crossed the sea carrying dust in its mouth” emphasizes the hot, dry wind’s North African origin; A speaker in a Mediterranean city might say, “By noon the sirocco had turned every window into a furnace”; “Her anger was a sirocco, scorching and full of sand” uses the wind as a metaphor for abrasive passion; Naming the sirocco can give a poem a specific regional climate while suggesting heat, fatigue, haze, and restless movement
Additional Notes
The sirocco carries Sahara heat and dust toward the Mediterranean. It can make a setting feel dry, oppressive, exotic, or physically exhausting.
Other Meanings of “Sirocco”
Also Known As
Scirocco
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