Tramontane

For other uses, see Tramontana (disambiguation).

The winds of the Mediterranean

Tramontane (/trəˈmɒnteɪn/ trə-MON-tayn)[a] is a classical name for a northern wind. The exact form of the name and precise direction varies from country to country. The word came to English from Italian tramontana, which developed from Latin trānsmontānus (trāns- + montānus), "beyond/across the mountains",[1][2][3] referring to the Alps in the North of Italy. The word has other non-wind-related senses: it can refer to anything that comes from, or anyone who lives on, the other side of mountains, or even more generally, anything seen as foreign, strange, or even barbarous.


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  1. ^ Houghton Mifflin (2000). The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.). Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin. p. 1831. ISBN 978-0-395-82517-4.
  2. ^ Il grande dizionario italiano. , ed.2020, Garzanti Editore
  3. ^ Ottorino Pianigiani. Vocabolario Etimologico della Lingua Italiana.