Etymograph

English

simoom

Simoom comes from Arabic سَمُوم ‘hot wind’, and goes back to سَمَّ ‘to poison’.

  1. Arabicc. 500–presentسَمَّ1samma‘to poison’
  2. Arabicc. 500–presentسَمُوم1samūm‘hot wind’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1833simoom1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English simoom
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1833, Edgar Allan Poe: “Indeed, every appearance warranted me in apprehending a Simoon…”.

Lineage

  1. Arabicc. 500–presentسَمَّWiktionary, English simoomsamma‘to poison’
  2. Arabicc. 500–presentسَمُومWiktionary, English simoomsamūm‘hot wind’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1833simoomWiktionary, English simoom. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1833, Edgar Allan Poe: “Indeed, every appearance warranted me in apprehending a Simoon…”

Every English word from Arabic سَمَّ

Today it means

noun A hot, dry, suffocating, dust-laden wind of the desert, particularly of Arabia, Syria, and neighboring countries, generated by the extreme heat of the parched deserts or sandy plains.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “simoom”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Arabic سَمَّ / simoom

Shirt and support for this word