What is "kamsin"

Samiel \Sa"mi*el\ (?; 277), n. [Turk. sam-yeli; Ar. samm poison + Turk. yel wind. Cf. Simoom.] A hot and destructive wind that sometimes blows, in Turkey, from the desert. It is identical with the simoom of Arabia and the kamsin of Syria.

Sirocco \Si*roc"co\ (s[i^]*r[o^]k"k[-o]), n.; pl. Siroccos (s[i^]*r[o^]k"k[=o]z). [It. sirocco, scirocco, Ar. shorug, fr. sharq the rising of the sun, the east, fr, sharaca to rise as the sun. Cf. Saracen.]

1. An oppressive, relaxing wind from the Libyan deserts, chiefly experienced in Italy, Malta, and Sicily.

2. In general, any hot dry wind of cyclonic origin, blowing from arid or heated regions, including the desert wind of Southern California, the harmattan of the west coasts of Africa, the hot winds of Kansas and Texas, the kamsin of Egypt, the leste of the Madeira Islands, and the leveche of Spain.

n. (alternative spelling of khamsin English)