The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri

xi. Winds (De ventis) 1. Wind is air that is stirred up
and put into motion, and it is assigned different names
according to the different parts of the sky. It is named
wind (ventus) becauseitisfurious (vehemens) andviolent
(violentus), for its power is such that it not only
uproots rocks and trees but even disturbs the sky and
the earth and tosses the seas. 2. Therearefour principal
winds: the first ofthese,fromtheeast,isSubsolanus;
from the south is Auster; fromthe west Favonius; and
from the north blows a wind of the same name (i.e.
Septentrio,“the north”). Each of these has a pair of winds
associated with it. 3. Subsolanus has Vulturnus from the
right side and Eurus from the left; Auster has Euroauster
from the right and Austroafricus from the left; Favonius
has Africus from the right and Corus from the left; finally
Septentrio has Circius from the right and Aquilo from the
left. These twelve winds whirl around the globe of the
world with their blowing. 4.Their names were assigned
for specific reasons; for Subsolanus is named because it
arises beneath (sub) therising of the sun (sol); Eurus
because it blows from , that is, from the East, for it
is related to Subsolanus; Vulturnus, because it ‘resounds
deeply’ (alte tonare). 5. ConcerningthisLucretiussays
(On the Nature of Things 5.743):
Deep-resounding (altitonans) Vulturnus and Auster,
brandishing lightning.
6. Auster is named from gathering (aurire, i.e. haurire)
waters, with which it makes the air thick and feeds the
rain-clouds. It is called in Greek, because it sometimes
corrupts the air (cf. , “corrupt, adulterate”),
for when Auster blows, it brings to other regions
pestilence, which arises from corrupted air. But just
as Auster brings pestilence, so Aquilo drives it away.
Euroauster is named because on one side it links with
Eurus and on the other with Auster.
7. Austroafricus because it is joined on its left and right
with Auster and Africus. This is also called Libonotus,
because on one side of it is Libs (i.e. Africus)andonthe
other Notus (i.e. Auster). 8. [Favonius is named because
it nourishes (fovere) fruitsandflowers. In Greek this
is Zephyrus, because it generally blows in the spring;
whence this (Vergil, Geo. 1.44):
And the crumbling soil loosens with the Zephyr (i.e.
west wind).]
5 The Hyperboreans are a storied people of the far north.
The Etymologies XIII.xi.1–xi.20 275
Zephyrus is called by this name in Greek because it
gives life (cf. , “life”) to flowers and seeds with its
breath. In Latin it is called Favonius because it nurtures
(fovere) the things that are generated, for flowers are
released by Auster and fashioned by Zephyrus. 9. Africus
is named from its particular region, for it is in Africa
that it starts to blow. 10. Corus is the one that blows from
the west in the summer, and it is called Corus because it
closes the circle of winds, and makes them like a ringdance
(chorus). Earlier it was called Caurus, and most
people call it Argestes –notAgrestis as the ignorant common
people do. 11. Septentrio is so named because it
rises in the circle of the seven (septem) stars (i.e. the Big
Dipper), which, when one’s head is tipped back, seem
to be carried by the world turning itself. 12. Circius is
named because it is next to Corus. The Spanish call it
Gallicus, because it blows on them from the direction
of Galicia. 13. Aquilo is named because it constrains the
waters (aqua) and dissipates clouds, for it is a cold dry
wind. It is also called Boreas, because it blows from the
Hyperborean mountains – for that is the source of this
wind, whence it is cold. 5 The nature of all the septentrional
winds is cold and dry, and that of the austral winds
is moist and warm. 14. And of all the winds, there are
two principal ones: Septentrio and Auster. 15.TheEtesiae
are gusts from Aquilo, and they have been given their
name because they begin to blow at a specific season of
the year, for is the Greek word for ‘year’ (cf.
also ,“year”). These make a straight course from the
north into Egypt; they blow opposite to Auster.
16. Besides these there are two everywhere that are
more puffs of air than winds: the breeze and the seabreeze.
17. Thebreeze (aura) isnamed from air (aer),
as if the word were aeria, because it is a gentle motion
of air; for air that is stirred up makes a breeze, whence
Lucretius says (On the Nature of Things 5.503):
Airy breezes (Aerias auras) ...
18. The sea-breeze (altanus), which is over the seas, is
derived fromtheterm‘thedeep’(altus), that is, the sea. It
is different from the wind that blows on the shore, which
we have named a breeze, for a breeze is associated with
the land. 19.Awhirlwind(turbo)isawhirlingofwinds,
and it is named from ‘soil’ (terra), whenever the wind
surges and sends the soil into a spiral. 20.Storm(tempestas,
also meaning “period of time”) is named either for
‘season’ (tempus), just as historians are always using it