Dictionary

downwind en · ADV

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˌdaʊnˈwɪnd/ (Canada)

Etymology

Etymology tree English down- Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-ti Proto-Indo-European *h₂wḗh₁ti Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁n̥ts Proto-Germanic *windaz Proto-West Germanic *wind Old English wind Middle English wynd English wind English downwind From down- + wind.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable, usually) in the same direction as the wind is blowing
   • ... the aftermath of the dust-storm came up and caught us both, and drove us downwind like pieces of paper. 1888, Rudyard Kipling, Plain Tales from the Hills:
   • The six birds on their downwind leg have already started to get their "gear down," meaning they have partially rotated their legs forward in a position that will be vertical by the moment of touch down. 2021, Peter Cavanagh, “9. Cranes”, in 100 Flying Birds: Photographing the Mechanics of Flight, →ISBN, page 220:
2. (followed by from, not-comparable, usually) positioned relative to something in such a way that it can be smelled in the wind
   • I don't want to live downwind from a pig farm.
3. (not-comparable, usually) in the direction opposite that of landing in a traffic pattern

Forms

Antonyms

upwind · windward

Deriveds

downwinder

Synonyms

leeward

Translations (14)

it sottovento (in the same direction as the wind is blowing) · es a sotavento (positioned relative to something in such a way that it can be smelled in the wind) · fi alatuuleen (in the same direction as the wind is blowing) · de mit dem Wind (in the same direction as the wind is blowing) · es a sotavento (in the same direction as the wind is blowing) · de windabgewandt (in the same direction as the wind is blowing) · fi myötätuuleen (in the same direction as the wind is blowing) · de in Windrichtung (in the same direction as the wind is blowing) · de windabwärts (in the same direction as the wind is blowing) · th ใต้ลม (positioned relative to something in such a way that it can be smelled in the wind) · de unter dem Winde (in the same direction as the wind is blowing) · fi alatuulessa (positioned relative to something in such a way that it can be smelled in the wind) · pt sotavento (in the same direction as the wind is blowing) · de vor dem Wind (in the same direction as the wind is blowing)