SSC
The word 'monsoon' is derived from the Arabic word 'mausim', which means:
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Answer: Option B — Season
Detailed Solution
The word "monsoon" comes from the Arabic word "mausim", which means "season". Arab sailors and traders used it to describe the seasonal reversal of winds over the Arabian Sea, which they used for sailing between Arabia, East Africa and India.
A monsoon is a seasonal reversal in the direction of winds during a year. In India, the winds blow from the south-west (from the sea towards the land) in summer and from the north-east (from the land towards the sea) in winter. The summer winds bring most of India's rainfall.
The main cause of the monsoon is the difference in the heating of land and sea. In summer, the land heats up much faster than the sea, so a low-pressure area forms over the north-western part of India and Pakistan, while high pressure remains over the Indian Ocean. Moist winds blow from the sea towards the land, bringing rain. The shifting of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) northwards, the jet streams, the heating of the Tibetan plateau and events in the Pacific, such as El Nino, also influence the monsoon.
The south-west monsoon usually reaches Kerala around 1 June and covers the whole country by about mid-July. It splits into two branches: the Arabian Sea branch and the Bay of Bengal branch. It brings about 75% of India's annual rainfall between June and September. The monsoon withdraws from October, and in October-November, the retreating monsoon and the north-east monsoon bring rainfall to the Coromandel coast of Tamil Nadu. The India Meteorological Department (IMD), set up in 1875, forecasts the monsoon.
The monsoon is often called the "real finance minister" of India, because a large part of Indian agriculture depends on it.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Rain is not the meaning of "mausim".
- ✗Wind is not the meaning of "mausim".
- ✗Cloud is not the meaning of "mausim".
Quick tip
Remember: monsoon = from Arabic "mausim" (season), seasonal reversal of winds; reaches Kerala around 1 June; Tamil Nadu gets rain from the north-east (retreating) monsoon.
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Atmosphere, Weather & Climate — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Atmosphere, Weather & Climate, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the composition and layers of the atmosphere, insolation and temperature, atmospheric pressure and the planetary winds, local winds, humidity, clouds and rainfall, cyclones and anticyclones, and the climatic regions of the world. Exam questions often test the layers of the atmosphere in order (troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere), the ozone layer in the stratosphere, and local winds such as the Loo (India), Chinook (North America) and Foehn (Alps). Learn the names given to tropical cyclones in different regions: hurricanes, typhoons and willy-willies. Practise the atmosphere, weather and climate questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.