means A seasonal wind system that reverses direction between summer and winter, bringing heavy rains to large parts of South and Southeast Asia.

from From Portuguese 'monção,' which sailors borrowed from Arabic 'mawsim' — meaning 'season' or 'a fixed time' — the same word Arab traders used for the right moment to set sail. The winds kept their schedule so reliably that the season and the wind became one word, carried west along trade routes until it landed in English in the late 16th century.