
Example image showing definitions of windward (upwind) and leeward (downwind).
'Downwind' refers to a position leeward, a distance along the direction of
wind from another position (see
Windward and leeward). Leeward is mostly used as a nautical term and in respect to mountains and other
orographic features.
On land, "downwind" is often used to refer to a situation where a
point source of
air pollution or a scent moves from a point upwind; from the direction of the wind to the point of the observer.
"Downwind" has specific connotations in industrial cities in the English North, where less desirable or expensive housing was often situated to the leeward of steelworks, blast furnaces, mills or other sources of intense pollution. Hence in some cities it is used as a generic, slang, pejorative and discriminatory term for less wealthy areas or their inhabitants.
See also
★
Downstream