a wind blowing obliquely towards the equator either from the northeast in the N hemisphere or the southeast in the S hemisphere, approximately between latitudes 30° N and S, forming part of the planetary wind system
Word origin
C17: from to blow trade to blow steadily in one direction, from trade in the obsolete sense: a track
trade wind in American English
a wind that blows steadily toward the equator from the northeast in the tropics north of the equator and from the southeast in the tropics south of the equator
Word origin
earlier trade, adv., steadily in phr. to blow trade