'khamsin' originates from Arabic, specifically the word 'خمسين (khamsīn),' where 'خمسون (khamsūn)' meant 'fifty,' referring to the approximately fifty days the wind lasts.

'خمسين (khamsīn)' was adopted into English as 'khamsin' to describe the specific wind phenomenon in Egypt.

Initially, it referred to the number fifty, but over time it evolved into its current meaning of a specific desert wind.