# Föhn



## zlatha

hello! can someone help me with the meaning of Föhn? I don't have a context, but I know it's a word related to the weather, and that it happens (the Föhn thing) in the places close to the Alps. any idea? 
Vielen dank!!!
oh! ad is it der, die or das?


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## Jana337

zlatha said:
			
		

> hello! can someone help me with the meaning of Föhn? I don't have a context, but I know it's a word related to the weather, and that it happens (the Föhn thing) in the places close to the Alps. any idea?
> Vielen dank!!!
> oh! ad is it der, die or das?


Yes, Zlatha (a nice Slavic name - if it is not a nick ),

Der Föhn is a dry and warm wind  typical of the northern part of the Alps. Click.

Jana


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## zlatha

Thanks! any idea of how can i translate it into english?

it is a nick (because it's not my real name) but it's a name i love.. (even if it's without the h!-it was already taken!)


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## Jana337

zlatha said:
			
		

> Thanks! any idea of how can i translate it into english?
> 
> it is a nick (because it's not my real name) but it's a name i love.. (even if it's without the h!-it was already taken!)


I don't think that there is an English translation. If you click on the link, you will see a text about föhn or foehn. In a similar vein, no one translates mistral.

Jana


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## I.C.

I would keep the local name "Föhn" and add it's a warm fall wind if necessary.


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## zlatha

thanks a lot!


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## gaer

I.C. said:
			
		

> I would keep the local name "Föhn" and add it's a warm fall wind if necessary.


The English word for "Föhn" is simply foehn or föhn. No difference except it is not capitalized. 

In other words, this is a word borrowed straight from German and essentially unchanged. 

Gaer


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## Brioche

I.C. said:
			
		

> I would keep the local name "Föhn" and add it's a warm fall wind if necessary.


 
It is not a _fall _wind. It often occurs in winter, and causes the snow to melt.

In Germany the AEG company sold hair-dryers with the brand name _Fön_ [without the h], and people often use _der_ _Föhn_ or _der_ _Fön_ to mean any brand of hair-dryer. Supposedly the name of the wind derives for the Latin _fovere_ to warm.

In Canada and northern US in the Rocky Mountains there is a similar wind called a Chinook [ch prounouned sh]. There are similar winds in other countries with local names.

Meteorologists use foehn as the generic name for this type of wind.


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## sohc4

Brioche said:
			
		

> It is not a _fall _wind. It often occurs in winter, and causes the snow to melt.


It's not a fall wind as in fall as a season.  It's a fall wind as far as the air from the southern side of the alps rises up, and looses it's humidity (it rains).  This happens because the air expands while rising (less barometic pressure) and cools down.  Cool air cannot hold as much humidity as warm air does.  Once it climbed over the alps, it falls down on the northern side, compresses and warms up again.

Under foehn condition, you have good visibility (the air is clean), warm winds but many people complain about headaches.  (I don't .)

Axl


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## Fergus

I think the Italians calkl their hair dryers il fono or something too! - could this be linked?

Fergus


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## Brioche

sohc4 said:
			
		

> It's not a fall wind as in fall as a season. It's a fall wind as far as the air from the southern side of the alps rises up, and looses it's humidity (it rains). This happens because the air expands while rising (less barometic pressure) and cools down. Cool air cannot hold as much humidity as warm air does. Once it climbed over the alps, it falls down on the northern side, compresses and warms up again.
> 
> Under foehn condition, you have good visibility (the air is clean), warm winds but many people complain about headaches. (I don't .)
> 
> Axl


 
a "fall" wind is not an English expression. We don't say the wind "falls down".

You could say something like "The wind blows down the the northern side."


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## I.C.

Brioche said:
			
		

> a "fall" wind is not an English expression. We don't say the wind "falls down".


I bow to your superior wisdom:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katabatic_winds


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## gaer

sohc4 said:
			
		

> It's not a fall wind as in fall as a season. It's a fall wind as far as the air from the southern side of the alps rises up, and looses it's humidity (it rains). This happens because the air expands while rising (less barometic pressure) and cools down. Cool air cannot hold as much humidity as warm air does. Once it climbed over the alps, it falls down on the northern side, compresses and warms up again.
> 
> Under foehn condition, you have good visibility (the air is clean), warm winds but many people complain about headaches. (I don't .)
> 
> Axl


Axl, I did come across the term "fall wind", but apparently this is used for cold air masses that are doing the same thing, such as coming down the side of a glaicier. However, this would be a technical term. I believe 99% of all people would immediately think of "autum" when seeing "fall wind".

On the other hand, I did find "Chinook". The meaning seems to be the same, used in the US, for the same meaning as "foehn", but our word is used for describing the same kind of wind occurring on our West coast mountains. It can be written without capitalization, but perhaps "Chinook", for the wind, comes from the name for a tribe of Native Americans.

http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/native/chi.html

About Chinook Indians 

This is ALL new info for me! 
Gaer


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## sohc4

gaer said:
			
		

> Axl, I did come across the term "fall wind", but apparently this is used for cold air masses that are doing the same thing, such as coming down the side of a glaicier. However, this would be a technical term. I believe 99% of all people would immediately think of "autum" when seeing "fall wind".


Thank you, Brioche and Gaer! I should have checked better before using such a term  but I was just too lazy yesterday...

Axl


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## I.C.

I am aware of the problem.
Now, I am not going to say the term “fall wind” is not strictly confined to cold winds or applies to a different type of more locally restricted winds only - I was not quite certain about that. You can therefore say “warm fall wind” is not a good or accurate explanation, at worst self-contradictory. May well be.
However, “fall wind” as such certainly is an existing expression.
As you can guess, I never call autumn “fall”.


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## Drusillo

Fergus, you are right, in Italy we use "il fono" for hair-dryer.
The name of the wind is the same as in german/english.
I am sorry, Jana, we have different names for the other winds:
Mistral = Maestrale.

Ciao


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## Jana337

Drusillo said:
			
		

> I am sorry, Jana, we have different names for the other winds:
> Mistral = Maestrale.


OK, but I wouldn't classify it as a totally different word. Just the same word, italinianized because the root is a meaningful word.

Jana


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## Drusillo

The latin call it "Magister" (master), because it flow from west to est and they can follow it to come back home (if you live in Rome ).

Here can be found a "complete list" from all-over the world.
http://ggweather.com/winds.html
The names depend from(by?) the geographical position where they are used.
Ciao


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## gaer

I.C. said:
			
		

> I am aware of the problem.
> Now, I am not going to say the term “fall wind” is not strictly confined to cold winds or applies to a different type of more locally restricted winds only - I was not quite certain about that. You can therefore say “warm fall wind” is not a good or accurate explanation, at worst self-contradictory. May well be.
> However, “fall wind” as such certainly is an existing expression.
> As you can guess, I never call autumn “fall”.


This is a totally new area for me. For the most part, I'm just reading.

 Now, if the subject were hurricanes, … 

Gaer


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## I.C.

gaer said:
			
		

> The English word for "Föhn" is simply foehn or föhn. No difference except it is not capitalized.
> 
> In other words, this is a word borrowed straight from German and essentially unchanged.


 Additionally it looks like several winds around the globe similar to Alpenföhn are being categorised as "föhn winds" in English. Might indicate there simply is no better word or short description, which doesn't go into technical details.  Hence I withdraw "warm fall wind".


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## gaer

I.C. said:
			
		

> Additionally it looks like several winds around the globe similar to Alpenföhn are being categorised as "föhn winds" in English. Might indicate there simply is no better word or short description, which doesn't go into technical details.  Hence I withdraw "warm fall wind".


As I said, this is all a matter of learning new words and meanings for me. 

Gaer


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## foehn

Could anybody tell me if the meaning of the word "foehn" is common knowlege in german speakers? Swiss German? Thanks in advance! Information is very important to me! Most Americans don't seem to know. If anyone wants to know, the best answer I found was
at answers dot com... 
p.s. I have a degree in English and one in writing. Don't know much German (though both my grandmothers were German!) but I did have two years of French and one of Latin. I love the study of language! If anyone wants to send me texts in Swiss German and in English (make sure you send both!) I will gladly check the English, provided I'm not overwhelmed by responses! I've had this online user name for years... Only now I'm in love with a Swiss girl in a way I never genuinely believed were possible (at least for me...) I'd like to point out to her that my user name derives from Switzerland, but not if she already knows!

Merci!


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## Jana337

Hello and welcome! 

I merged your thread with a recent one. I hope you find the information here useful. Don't hesitate to ask for more details.

Jana


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## Godfather

Hello! Very interesting story. 

It is common knowledge for Swiss Germans, in both meanings. From my experience it is always used for *hair blower* and often (but not always) for *meteorological foehn*. The word actually derived from Switzerland. I think it's also common knowledge in Austria and Germany nowadays but I'm not sure about it.

According to

(I'm not allowed to post URLs) wissen.de/xt/default.do?MENUNAME=Woerterbuecher

 Föhn  [m. –(e)snur Sg.]* 1 * _warmer, trockener Fallwind nördlich der Alpen_ * 2 * _elektrisches Heißluftgerät zum Trocknen gewaschener Haare;_  vgl. Fön® [über vulgärlat. *faonius <lat. favonius ”lauer Westwind“, der Mitte Februar den Frühling ankündigt, zu fovere ”wärmen, warm machen“]


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## I.C.

There are places in Germany which experience föhn more or less frequently, among them München and Freiburg im Breisgau, to name two cities. The mechanics of föhn at least used to be part of the curriculum at many German schools. The hair-dryer I know as "Fön" only.


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## foehn

You guys totally rock!


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