noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A hot, dry wind, common in Egypt, Sudan and the Levant towards the end of March and April, which blows (for about 50 days each year) from the desert, bringing with it hot weather and sand / sandstorms.

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

2. 2
   an oppressively hot southerly wind from the Sahara that blows across Egypt in the spring wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

devilkhamaseenkhamaseensamielsiroccostorm

Example

More examples

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

Etymology

From Egyptian Arabic خَمْسِين (ḵamsīn, “fifty”); see khamaseen for more.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.