Word.ws English Dictionary

derecho

UK/dəˈɹeɪ.t͡ʃəʊ//dəˈɹeɪ.t͡ʃoʊ/

derecho noun: a windstorm characterized by strong, straight-line winds.

derecho: a windstorm characterized by strong, straight-line winds
Image: NOAA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

derecho (plural derechos or derechoes)

  1. (US) A windstorm characterized by strong, straight-line winds.
    • Combining all of the above, the Arkansas Valley, Ouachita Mountains, Interior Plateau, and Southwest Appalachian ecoregions have the greatest risk of wind damage from tornadoes and derechos, whereas weakening hurricanes are an important disturbance, especially in the Piedmont ecoregion.2015, Chris J. Peterson, Jeffery B. Cannon, Christopher M. Godfrey, “5: First Steps Toward Defining the Wind Disturbance Regime in Central Hardwoods Forests”, in Cathryn H. Greenberg, Beverly S....
    • Derechos have winds as powerful as those of some hurricanes and tornadoes. "Derecho" comes from the Spanish word meaning "straight."2016, Bill Streever, And Soon I Heard a Roaring Wind, Hachette, unnumbered page

derecho meaning in Persian

derecho in Persian

windstorm with strong straight-line winds
دِرِچو derečo

Forms of derecho

pluralderechos
pluralderechoes

Origin of derecho

Learned borrowing from Spanish derecho (“straight”). First used by Gustavus Detlef Hinrichs in 1888, apparently coined to distinguish the winds from tornadoes, which rotate; compare tornado. Doublet of direct.

Questions about derecho

What does derecho mean?
Derecho means a windstorm characterized by strong, straight-line winds.
What is derecho in Persian?
Derecho in Persian is دِرِچو (derečo). See Derecho meaning in Persian.
What part of speech is derecho?
Derecho is a noun.
How do you pronounce derecho?
Derecho is pronounced /dəˈɹeɪ.t͡ʃoʊ/ (US).
What is the plural of derecho?
The plural of derecho is derechos.

Words near derecho in the dictionary

  1. derealizing
  2. derebey
  3. derebeys
  4. derech
  5. derech eretz
  6. derecho
  7. derechoes
  8. derechos
  9. Dereck
  10. derecognise
  11. derecognised

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: derecho (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-derecho.ogg.

Cite this entry: “derecho.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/derecho. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.