sirocco

plural siroccos · alternative sciroc · alternative siroc · alternative scirocco

1. A hot and often strong southerly to southeasterly wind on the Mediterranean that originates in the Sahara and adjacent North African regions.

   But come, the board is spread; our silver lamp / Is trimm’d, and heeds not the sirocco’s damp.

   1814, George Gordon, Lord Byron, Corsair, i:14

   1 more example

   Diese Toleranz und largeur des Herzens, die Alles „verzeiht“, weil sie Alles „begreift“, ist Scirocco für uns.

   1888, Friedrich Nietzsche, The Antichrist 1

   Synonyms: ghibli

2. colloquialA draft of hot air from an artificial source of heat.

   In the hearth at the north wall a large fire cracked and lisped, flushing the room with a dry sirocco that caused frozen skin to tingle.

   2003, Erik Larson, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, Random House, →ISBN, page 113