khamsin

English

Alternative forms

• chamsin
• khamseen
• kamsin
• kamseen

Etymology

From Egyptian Arabic خَمْسِين (ḵamsīn, “fifty”).

Noun

khamsin (plural khamsins)

1. A hot wind in Egypt which blows (for about 50 days) from the desert, bringing with it sand.
   • 1957, Lawrence Durrell, Justine, Faber 1968, p. 121:

     That second spring the khamseen was worse than I have ever known it before or since.

Synonyms

• khamaseen