What are the origins of the word, “kamees?”

The kamees is a very popular fashion style of Muslim men across the globe. This traditional style dates back centuries ago, but what are the origins of the word “Kamees,” itself? Below, we’ll reveal the sources of this word and its linguistic variants by country.

The etymological origins of the word, “kamees”

The kamees is the most popular style of clothing worn by men of Muslim faith. It’s said that the word kamees is derived from the Latin word, “camisia,” which means shirt.

This kind of long, wide tunic reaching to the ankles draws its origins from the sunna (a transcribed, prophetic scripture). It’s reported in the hadiths (prophetic narratives) that kamees was the preferred style of Mohamed, the prophet of Islam.

The kamees has been adopted by many peoples and civilizations since the spread of Islam and is ideal for performing various daily prayers at the mosque or for everyday wear.

The various names of the kamees

We find the word kamees in different orthographies according to languages. For example, we’ll find different spellings such as, kamis or kameez in English.

But sometimes it’s called a dishdasha or dichdacha in Qatar, a Sultanate of Oman, gandourah or kandoura in the United Arab Emirates, a djellaba in the Maghreb, a qameez or kameez in India and Pakistan, a boubou in West Africa, or a thawb, thowb or thobe in Kuwait and eastern Saudi Arabia.

Nowadays this traditional style is made to measure and can be customized. To order and customize your own kamees, you can use the services of Custom-Qamis by providing your measurements and all necessary information via our website.