SIROCCO

also scirocco noun (plural -cos) Etymology: Italian scirocco, ~, alteration of Old Italian scilocco, from Arabic dialect (Maghreb) šlōq southeast wind, alteration of Arabic shalūq, shulūq Date: 1617 1. 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