英和和英

発音

• (英国発音) IPA: /ˌhɑːməˈtæn/, /ˌhɑːˈmætən/
• (General American) IPA: /ˌhɑɹməˈtæn/, /ˌhɑɹməˈtɑn/, /ˌhɑɹˈmætən/

名詞

harmattan (plural harmattans)

1. 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.

2. A season which spans the period in which the harmattan wind blows.

参照

• 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.