Etymology
The name of the wind pattern comes from the levante (Spanish: east), the perceived origin point of the rain, and it is used to describe both east and the wind coming from the east. The opposite of the levante is the poniente (Spanish: west). Levante originates from the verb levantar (Spanish: to rise) and refers to the fact that the sun rises from the east. In the same way, poniente comes from the verb poner (or ponerse in its intransitive form) (Spanish: to put down : lay down : lie down) and refers to the fact that the sun sets in the west. Both of these terms, levante and poniente, are commonly used in Spanish sea terminology to indicate directions, east and west, while at sea.
Read more about this topic: Levant (wind)
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)