A vocabulary of landscape — a landscape of words
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backing
A wind shifting counterclockwise — west to south, north to west. In the northern hemisphere, a backing wind warns of approaching foul weather or an incoming cold front. The opposite of veering.
Etymology
Pronunciation’s already filled (BAK-ing). For the empty etymology:
From the nautical and meteorological sense of back (to move or shift against the usual direction), from Old English bæc (“back, rear”). Sailors used “backing” for a wind turning counterclockwise — against the sun’s apparent path — as opposed to “veering,” which follows it.