Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - sirocco

 also scirocco  noun  (plural -cos)  Etymology: Italian scirocco, ~, alteration of Old Italian scilocco, from Arabic dialect (Maghreb) sloq southeast wind, alteration of Arabic shaluq, shuluq  Date: 1617  1.  a. a hot dust-laden wind from the Libyan deserts that blows on the northern Mediterranean coast chiefly in Italy, Malta, and Sicily  b. a warm moist oppressive southeast wind in the same regions  2. a hot or warm wind of cyclonic origin from an arid or heated region