Windward and leeward
position relative to wind direction
In geography and seamanship, windward ( WIND-wərd, WIN-ərd) and leeward ( LEE-wərd, LEW-ərd) are directions relative to the wind. Windward is upwind from the point of reference, i.e., facing the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is downwind from the point of reference, i.e., along the direction towards which the wind is going.
The side of a ship that is towards the leeward is its "lee side". If the vessel is heeling under the pressure of crosswind, the lee side will be the "lower side". During the Age of Sail, the term weather was used as a synonym for windward in some contexts, as in the weather gage.
Since it captures rainfall, the windward side of a mountain tends to be wetter than the leeward side it blocks. The drier leeward area is said to be in a rain shadow.
Origin
The term "windward" has roots in both Low German and Old English. The word "lee", which means a place without wind, comes from the Old Norse hle 'cover' and has been used in marine navigation in Germany since medieval times. The word "wind," meaning "air in motion," comes from Proto-Germanic *winda- and has evolved over time, with pronunciation changes influenced by similar words like "windy." The word "wind" has been associated with emptiness and vanity since the late 13th century.
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This entry incorporates text from “Windward and leeward” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.