/fɜːn/, /feɪn/, /fɝn/
OriginBorrowed from German Föhn, from Old High German phonno, from Vulgar Latin faōnius, an alteration of Latin favōnius (“west wind”), from Favōnius (“Roman wind god”).
- A warm dry wind blowing down the north sides of the Alps, especially in Switzerland.
“The foehn and the sun must have awakened the spirits of spring way up in the heights.”
“The foehns of the northern Alps are world-renowned for the formation of thermal belts on the alp terraces above the deep, U-shaped, glaciated valleys. Here the foehn phenomenon was first identified an”
- A similar katabatic wind developing on the lee side of a mountain.
“The foehn, I learned, was first recorded in the Alps but is found all over the world. The Santa Anas contain the occasional foehn, nicknamed “murder winds” and immortalized in Joan Didion's 1965 essay”
“This is particularly noticeable in Foehn winds—warm winds that descend from mountainous areas down to areas of lower elevation.
Wind patterns considered Foehn include the dry southerly wind blowing th”
Formsfoehns(plural) · foen(alternative) · föhn(alternative) · fohn(alternative)