Difference between revisions of "Windward"

Revision as of 17:17, 16 October 2020

The basic meaning of the noun, adverb and adjective windward is 'in the direction from which the wind is blowing'. (See also -ward - -wards.) The opposite direction is called leeward. Although it is usually pronounced, in RP, more or less as it looks ('WIND-words', with the '-i-' as in 'it' and 'is' IPA: /ˈwɪnd wə (or ɔː)^rdz/), there is a common pronunciation in nautical circles that reduces the second vowel to schwa, and elides the second '-w-': 'WIND-erds', /ˈwɪnd ə^rdz/.

• • The form windwards (with the '-s') is no longer common, except in such phrases as 'to windwards'. where it is a noun in an adverbial phrase. This sometimes has figurative implications in ordinary speech of its nautical connotations in the days of sail, where the ship nearer to the wind has the advantage over that further from the wind, in combat and, even now, in yacht racing. This was known technically as 'having the weather gage (sometimes spelled, with etymological accuracy, weather gauge: see Gage - gauge for more.

You may also like to see AWE's article on the suffix -ward (or -wards).

• • The Windward Islands are a sub-group of the Lesser Antilles, the more southerly and easterly of the Caribbean Islands that form the West Indies. The Windward Islands include Martinique, Dominica, St Lucia, Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada and, for some, Trinidad and Tobago. They are closer to the prevailing south-eastern winds than their neighbours to the north , the Leeward Islands. You may like to see a disquisition on these terms at Leeward Islands.